Topic: Bitcoiners' Novel Approach to Find Cure for COVID-19: Biohacking - page 2. (Read 399 times)

With such intensity of the pandemic, it would be wiser to let the officially recognized routes to look for a vaccine than organizing a crowdfund. We can raise a fund to provide for the labs that are already working for it or even to provide for test kit and mask for the places needing the most, buying the time is the best thing we can do. The vaccines trial has already started and if you are daring enough, you can even volunteer for it.

i'm sorry but this looks like a bunch of opportunists who have seen a way to make some money using the current drama  that is going on all around the world. besides what do "bitcoiners", bitcoin core devs,... know about medicine anyways? they better stick to things they have knowledge in and let other experts in other fields do their jobs.
and what's up with the anonymity?!!! that is another red flag for me that makes say this is just money grab project.

There is a reason for all the bureaucracy.

If you pump the vaccines out before they are properly tested then you could induce much worst symptoms than the Coronavirus itself produces.

There have been cases where vaccines and even standard antivirals have produced such a strong immune response than the patient goes into shock or suffers sepsis.

Obviously these potential side effects would be unacceptable against a virus that only has a slight chance of killing.

We need to take our time with the vaccine, the immune system is not something that should be tampered with lightly.

Idk. At this point, the common goal of everyone is to find a vaccine capable of tackling down the virus regardless of their differences. Big pharma, independent research teams, FDA.. you name it, that's just the common goal. Now, I agree at their sentiments that there's just too much process involved in taking the necessary actions to start working on the vaccine. And at some point it got me to thinking that these big pharma companies are waiting for the virus to spread even worse before they release the vaccine to people, but that's just me every time I wear my tinfoil hat.

Now it would be interesting if the biohacking group comes first with the vaccine and it works out pretty well. This will be a big slap to the pharmaceutical industry and the government as a whole.


I would love to know the reasons of Bishop as to why he left the initiative. For one, I am thinking of the capabilities of the involved scientists who will be working on the project, plus their equipment and their laboratories. Vaccines of the novel type of viruses are hard to create, especially if little to none is known about its nature etc.

Right, regulations and rules often exist for a good reason, especially in such a dangerous field as biology. No way I would take a DIY vaccine made by some "biohackers", there's so many things that can go wrong with it. And how would they get samples of the virus in the first place? They can easily contribute to the spread of the virus if they aren't careful, or in the worst case scenario even cause it to mutate into a more dangerous form.

People tend to hate big pharma companies, and part of me doesn't blame them in the least--but it's hard to deny that they've produced some pretty good medicines over the years (and some serious duds as well).  Personally, I'd rather live in a world with multiple pharmaceutical companies competing with one another in a system of capitalism than a world without them. 

I don't think the FDA, CDC, or any other agency involved in fighting the coronavirus outbreak is being a hindrance.  I'm sure things aren't being done as quickly or efficiently as people would like, but that's life.  They've got the scientists who know what they're doing, so I say let them do their jobs.

Not sure where crypto comes into play, but this thread makes me think of Gridcoin.  Not sure if many people even know about it, but it's kind of a cool concept, where you earn gridcoins by loaning out your CPU/GPU to science projects that need computing power.  It made me think about whether a vaccine or some other piece of basic virology research could be aided by something like GRC.  Anyway, I'm not hyping GRC and don't own any--it just came to mind when reading OP's post.

Depends on the reasons for the pharmaceuticals & FDA processes, and how effective/good and safe they are. I think you could actually do things much better, quicker, safer and possiblee with good results if the process(which I assume are good/safe) are replicated on a self-regulated, truely decentralized networks.  In my opinion, it's quite risky for this to be done without rules and in secrecy. Would they take the risk if there is guaranteed consequences for careless mistakes?
They should be really transparent, open to the public when necessary, involve proven professionals for guidance and regulate themselves (self-regulation I guess). I am very OK with the anonymity as long as they can be held accountable for careless mistakes

Calling the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a "potential hindrance" in urgently finding a vaccine that is capable of fighting COVID-19, a group of anonymous bitcoiners are now trying to take things into their own hands, disregarding the pharmaceuticals and FDA on the process.

According to the spokesperson of the group naming itself CoroHope:

Furthermore, the group is aware that whatever vaccine they would come up with may have a tiny chance of working. But that tiny chance is enough for them to pursue it and invest on it. But resources is something they also need, that is why they are also asking for donations. As others may naturally think of this as a potential scam, some personalities from the Bitcoin community are vouching for the anonymous group. Mark Friedenbach of Blockstream assures that "It is not a scam."

But would you give your trust to unknown Bitcoin fans bypassing the necessary agencies tasked to make sure drugs administered to people are properly checked and are safe to use? Bitcoin Core contributor, Bryan Bishop, left after 2 days of joining the biohacking initiative because "There's just too much liability."

Well, personally, I am torn between the greedy pharmaceutical companies and their red-tape and bribe-ridden partner-in-crime, FDA, and the reliability of an anonymous group's biohacking project.

Is this endeavor worth your donation? Is this kind of initiative which is too delicate even worth supporting?

Source:
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoiners-are-biohacking-a-diy-coronavirus-vaccine?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=Events&utm_content=Register&utm_campaign=FATF