Presentation on how blockchain tech can positively impact the scientific process - from Idea/Hypothesis, through Seeking Funding, to Run and Analyse Experiment, to Publish and Share.. Summarises work done under the auspices of IUPAC to be published as a white paper in 1H 2023.

1. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
The Use Of Blockchain Technology
Along The Scientific Research Workflow
Richard Shute, Curlew Research
Member, IUPAC Blockchain White Paper Task Force
ISC2023: Manchester, UK - March 18, 2023

2. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
• Who/What is IUPAC?
• Why did IUPAC set up a “Blockchain Task Force”?
• White paper review of blockchain and distributed ledger technology
• What has the task force done?
• Focus on Blockchain Tech applications along the scientific workflow
• Use cases, examples and companies for each step
• Where & when will the white paper be published?
• What else will be in the paper?
• Acknowledgements
Contents

3. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Who/What is the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC)?

4. IUPAC Periodic Table (2022)

5. • Established in 1919, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is the
global organization that provides objective scientific expertise and develops the
essential tools for the application and communication of chemical knowledge:
• Refining chemical nomenclature and terminology
• Naming of new chemical elements in the periodic table
• Standardizing methods for measurement
• Standardizing atomic weights and physical constants
What is IUPAC?

6. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
https://iupac.org/what-we-do/top-ten/

7. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Task force set
up to
produce
“White
Paper”
review of
blockchain
tech as it
might apply
to chemistry,
chemists and
science in
general.
CHAIR:
Bonnie
Lawlor
• The Task Force decided to focus their efforts on the application of
blockchain tech to the scientific workflow.

8. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
At its heart, the scientific
PROCESS leading to
scientific KNOWLEDGE
comprises FIVE main,
iterative parts:-
The IUPAC white paper
task force considered each
part and how
blockchain tech could play
a positive role.
- NB: KOL Interviews
What is "the scientific workflow" & how can blockchain help?
- NB: Science is both a body of knowledge and a process.
#1 Develop
Hypothesis/Define
an idea
#2 Seek Funding
#3 Perform
Experiment/Make
Observations
#4 Perform
Analysis/Make
Insights
#5 Publish/share
results

9. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Step #1: Develop Hypothesis/Define Idea
Primary use case: IP Protection
• Time-stamping of a hypothesis/idea once it is hashed and the hash mined to a
blockchain.
• "Proof of existence" of a key digital asset
OriginStamp: https://originstamp.com
Stampery: https://www.stampery.com
Bernstein: https://www.Bernstein.io
• Can try for free
Bloxberg: https://bloxberg.org
• Member-based global consortium supported by the Max Planck Society in
Germany
ARTiFACTS https://artifacts.ai
• The basic ARTiFACTS system is free to researchers

10. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Step #2: Seek Funding
Molecule: https://www.molecule.to
• Allow researchers to license their Intellectual Property to interested investors
using IP-Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
• See: https://www.molecule.to/blog/molecules-first-ip-nft-in-the-united-states
• Molecule’s IP-NFT funding paradigm used to support age-related oral health research
on novel mTOR/NFkB/PI3K inhibitors at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Researchers Investors
Step #2: Provide Funding
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Awards $Billions in grants/year
• Risk-assessment tasks pre-2021 took 4+ hours
• Created blockchain-based system: Grant Recipient Digital Dossier (GDD)
• Risk-assessment now take 15 minutes
https://governmentciomedia.com/how-blockchain-transforming-federal-grants-management

11. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Step #3: Perform the Experiment/Make Observations
OUTPUT Auditable, traceable, reproducible research
ARTiFACTS: https://artifacts.ai
Open Science Chain: https://opensciencechain.org
• NSF supported at Univ. California San Diego
• Who did the experiment?
• Digital Identity & Signature
• Identity is a key area of DLT interest across many industries
Experimenter
• When was the experiment done and the observations made?
• Timestamping is one of the foundation stones of blockchain technology
Timestamp
• What reagents, animals, people were used in the experiment, and what method was
done (How)?
• Provenance is another area of keen interest and development in DLT
Materials & Methods
• How? Provenance of the kit, suitability for, training on the kit, etc.
• Blockchain startups are already looking at equipment provenance: manufacturing &
maintenance history; previous use; previous users; location (where the experiment
has been performed), etc.
Kit/ Equipment
• The data is the main “digital asset” output of the practical experiment.
• Need to associate the data to the materials, the kit, the experimenter, the location,
the time, etc..
• Managing digital assets is a primary use-case for DLT
Data
• Results are derived from the initial raw data: how (what calculations, software, etc);
who did the calculations; when; etc.
• Results are different from conclusions and insights (see #4 Analysis).
• These are digital assets too so are part of a prime DLT use-case
Results

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Step #4: Perform Analysis/Make Insights
• Who did the analysis?
• When was it performed?
• What methods were used
• software, algorithms, visualizations, calculations, etc.
• What data were gathered?
• What were the results of the analysis?
Electronic Laboratory Notebooks with blockchain technology:
• Labii: https://www/labii.com/blogs/using-blockchain-technology-inelectronic-lab-
notebool-eln
• KnowLedger (research project funded by NIST)
• https://unfsoars.domains.unf.edu/2022/posters/knowledger-a-semantic-
first-research-notebook/
• Uses the Bloxberg blockchain
Cf. Step #3:
Perform
Experiment

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Step #5: Publish/Share Results
• Use of DLT in this step promotes transparency, fosters
speedy communication, mitigates data tampering and fraud,
and can offer rewards (tokens) for usually unrecognized
efforts such as peer review.
ARTiFACTS: https://artifacts.ai
• Works with JBBA and other publishers
Bloxberg Consortium: https://bloxberg.org
Orvium: https://orvium.io
• in collaboration with CERN
Journal of the British Blockchain Association (JBBA):
https://britishblockchainassociation.org/jbba/
Ledger: https://www.ledgerjournal.org/ojs/index.php/ledger

14. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Other Science-Related Applications
• Real-time research tracking
• Supply-train tracking of chemicals/drugs**
• Degree/Qualification certification**
• Identity certification**
• Research data re-use**
• Including clinical trials
• Retrieval of Chemicals – end of life-cycle OR repurposing
during their life cycles
** = Covered in more detail in the white paper

15. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
More in depth analysis & discussion of:-
• Legal & regulatory considerations of DLT
• Some background on legislation and regulation as it currently applies
globally to blockchain technology
• The potential threat of quantum computing
• What next for the technology itself - 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation
blockchain tech?
• Some examples of where blockchain tech has not worked well
• Blockchain for Peer Review
• Project involving Digital Science, Springer Nature, Katalysis, ORCID, Taylor &
Francis, Cambridge University Press, Kargers
• Clinical Support Tools (Elsevier)
• Next-generation, blockchain-based clinical study design and capture tool.
Other topics covered in white paper

16. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Future Prognosis
• All steps in the scientific research workflow can benefit from the
use of blockchain technology.
• NB: Bloxberg Association for the Advancement of Blockchain in Science
formally founded in June 2022 under German legislation.
• https://bloxberg.org/bloxberg-becomes-the-first-association-for-the-advancement-of-science-and-blockchain-e-v/
• Has the “potential for disruption across the chemical enterprise”
• Quotation from: “Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain: Insights and Actions for
the Chemical Industry”, Accenture, June 2019
• https://www.Accenture.com/us-en/insights/chemicals/ai-blockchain-chemical-industry
• World Economic Forum 2023, Davos: "Blockchain as a technology
will continue to grow exponentially and its use cases expand. The
real-world applications of blockchain ... offer far greater utility
and cost savings." [Advit Nath, January 2023]
• https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/01/18/in-davos-blockchain-yields-more-promises-than-problems/
• Blockchain usage in science is growing globally and is
accelerating in the life and health sciences.
• The future looks bright!
• BUT … not every use case warrants a blockchain-based solution!

17. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
https://iupac.org/what-we-do/journals/
Where and when will the white paper be published?
White paper will be
published here … soon!
• IUPAC Periodicals

18. ADVANCING CHEMISTRY WORLDWIDE
Co-Authors of the White Paper
• Stuart Chalk, Professor of Chemistry, University of North Florida
• Jeremy Frey, Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Southampton
• Kazuhiro Hayashi, Director of Research Unit for Data Application,
Japanese National Institute of Science and Technology Policy
• David Kochalko, Co-founder, ARTiFACTS
• Bonnie Lawlor, IUPAC
• Richard Shute, Consultant, Curlew Research
• Mirek Sopek, Chief Technology Officer, MakoLab SA.

19. Curlew Research
Enabling Life Science Success
http://curlewresearch.com
@CurlewResearch
Curlew Research enables better
Health & Life Science research
through our expertise in
informatics, AI and strategy
development, including:
collaboration, externalisation,
data sharing & integration
across the complete workflow.
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