Blockchain technology is famous today primarily for its association with cryptocurrencies. However, recently, the scientific community has been examining its potential to solve problems beyond the realm of cryptocurrency. This study may help in finding the origins of life by the scientists. A scientific team of researchers led by senior author Bartosz A. Grzybowski of the Korea Institute of Basic Science will explore primitive forms of metabolism without involving enzymes.
The Potential of Blockchain Technology in Finding the Origin of Life
Blockchain technology can calculate the numerous biochemical reactions necessary for creating a colossal network that is responsible for life. This is the reason, computer scientists and chemists at Alchemy are utilizing Golem. They also want to make a platform that can calculate hundreds of computers globally and reward for computing time.
Network of Early Life (NOEL) is a network that can use blockchain technology for further improvement. NOEL comprises over 11 billion reactions which afterwards converged to around 4.9 billion potential reactions. Many scientists believe that the technology can utilize the metabolic pathways and shed light on early prebiotic chemistry which is crucial to understand the origins of life. Moreover, NOEL can imitate the Krebs cycle that organisms can use to generate energy and synthesize 128 simple biotic molecules such as amino acids and sugars.
Role of Blockchain Technology in Scientific Progress
Bartosz A. Grzybowski is highly optimistic about the potential of blockchain technology. He is optimistic that computer scientists can unveil the mystery of life’s origin. He is hopeful that tokenizing cryptocurrencies can benefit global science. There is a high possibility that in the future, many researchers will be able to bridge gaps between scientific exploration and blockchain technology, thereby unraveling the mystery of life.
Platforms like Golem have the potential to carry out large-scale calculations globally and are also cost-effective. Moreover, blockchain technology can be revamped to suit complicated calculations and define the perceived value of cryptocurrencies. The subject ‘origin of life’ requires extensive research which can be costly for most universities even in the Western World. Many believe that it may require expensive supercomputers that are largely unaffordable for ordinary universities. However, blockchain technology may offer a low-cost alternative to this problem and enable good-quality research on the topic. Since most elite universities in the world are in the West, the adoption of blockchain may open avenues for developing countries and provide scopes to researchers there.
Challenges in Researching the Origin of Life
There are multiple challenges in revealing the origin of life, which is why it remains a mystery to date. The most common challenge is developing a perfect methodology. This is because there are considerable differences of opinion as to whether to choose the teleological route of historians or the mechanistic thinking of the chemist. The Popperian principle of scientific theories and situational logic may also contradict each other while revealing. Blockchain technology can certainly ease research work by carrying out large-scale calculations and storing large volumes of data meticulously because of its traceability feature. However, the original methodological challenges can only be overcome by rigorous discussion and debate about the pros and cons of each approach.
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In Conclusion
Blockchain technology has a huge potential in fields beyond cryptocurrencies. It is good news that some members of the scientific community are contemplating its use in researching complicated issues like the ‘origin of life’. Research on the origin of life nevertheless has largely been inconclusive to date. In the near future, there is a high possibility that the technology may help in carrying out large-scale calculations for easier and more accurate research.
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