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Crowdsourcing cure faster: scientist

document Crowdfunding, Distributed Knowledge, Open Innovation

Crowdsourcing cure faster: scientist
Geneticist says the more people researching, the better
BY SHANNON PROUDFOOT, POSTMEDIA NEWS DECEMBER 31, 2010 1:01 AM

A Canadian geneticist's plans to crowdsource a cure for breast cancer is among the things being forecasted for 2011 and beyond by the World Future Society. The Washington, D.C.-based think-tank releases an annual report of the most intriguing glimpses of the future gathered from researchers, futurists and big thinkers over the past year, including a Toronto-based geneticist who's working on a novel way to seek a cure for cancer. Andrew Hessel co-founded Pink Army Co-operative in 2009 because he was frustrated by the glacial pace of big pharmaceutical development and convinced lives could be saved faster with many brains working collectively. He's hoping to attract 2,500 people who will pay $20 each for a share in the non-profit Pink Army, and he's collected about 420 mini-investors so far. The seed money will fund the first steps in what he envisions as a crowdsourced cure tailored for each person's cancer and powered by synthetic biology, a fast-growing area of genetics that lets researchers rewrite DNA code instead of just cutting and pasting. "I do this not because I'm running a lab or want to make a million dollars; I'm doing it because it's such a powerful technology and almost nobody knows about it," he says.

"The only way you're ever going to beat cancer is, first of all, strip the profit motive out of it -- that's just crazy." Profits and patents have "siloed" cancer researchers and companies who jealously guard their innovations rather than building on each other's work and making significant strides in cancer treatment, Hessel says. He chose breast cancer as a starting point because the disease has such a powerful advocacy and fundraising community, and once Pink Army has enough funding to get off the ground, he plans to open up the research and design process to a Wiki-type model. © Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Summary Discusses a Canadian geneticist's plan to crowdsource a cure for breast cancer. Through Canadian geneticist Andrew Hessel's co-founded Pink Army Cooperative, he's hoping to collect $20 each from 2,500 people in order to fund the initial steps to a crowd-sourced cure for people's cancer.

Description Hessel's plan is a noble cause that seeks to make knowledge open and crowd-sourced instead of hoarded for financial gain. When he is able to gather enough funds, he plans to begin the research and design process for a Wiki-type model geared towards a cure for people's cancer.

Tags: breast cancer, cancer, Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, cure for breast cancer, geneticist

Posted by Vince Cooper

Dec 31, 2010 11:53 pm GMT Viewed 2286 times

Author: SHANNON PROUDFOOT Source

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