Highlights from July in the Biosphere 🌐
This month the White House published a report titled Science: A New Golden Age. Its recommendations line up closely with what Bio has been building. It calls for funding scientists directly through regranting instead of routing everything through consensus peer review. It also advocates for AI-native scientific institutions, faster open publishing, and new ways to fund the work that actually matters. That shift is already underway across the Biosphere.
This month at a glance:
- A White House report backs open science
- A research agent for the Bio community
- Super Human 2026 - Bio founder Paul Kohlhaas on the architecture of longevity in Sweden
- OpenLabs call for researchers
- Bio on the ground in NYC - Catalyst NYC with ResearchHub and DeSciNYC's Peptides 101
- PeptAI's next experiments - four candidates for KISS1R and OX2R headed to the wet-lab
A White House Report Backs Open Science
A White House report on the future of research funding came out this month, and a lot of the recommendations sounded familiar: back individual scientists rather than institutions, and build open infrastructure that keeps scientific contributions traceable and auditable.
It is the argument Bio and the wider DeSci ecosystem have made for years. Read more.
A Research Agent for the Bio Community
BIOS showed that an agent can take a target from prompt to ranked drug candidate. Now we want a version built around how each researcher works.
We've started building a research agent that keeps the BIOS engine but adapts to your own domain, evidence standards, and workflow. From the start, we’re designing it with the community talking to researchers and AI builders about how they actually work and where an agent should pause and check in first.
Super Human 2026: The Architecture of Longevity
Bio founder @paulkhls joined a panel on the architecture of longevity at Super Human Summit 2026 exploring the environments and systems that shape human health.
Super Human is an invitation-only gathering in Sweden, bringing together people shaping the future of science, technology, and human evolution. Recordings will be available later this month.
OpenLabs: Turning Scientific Ideas Into Funded Projects
Following the recent announcement, we're looking for more researchers to run projects and peer reviews on OpenLabs, which can then move to the Bio launchpad.
We are early, and we want to hear from you. If you are doing independent research and have hit the funding wall, our DMs are open ↓
Bio on the ground in New York
The Bio community spent time in New York this month, with two stops. Catalyst NYC, hosted by ResearchHub, covered translational science, funding models, and open science infrastructure. DeSciNYC ran a Peptides 101 session.
If you are building in material science, enzyme engineering, microbial strain engineering, or small molecule discovery, we want to meet: DM @oxMichelangelo on X or book a call with us.
PeptAI's Next Experiments
PeptAI confirmed its next experiments for two programs: KISS1R (fertility) and OX2R (ADHD and sleep).
Its agents designed two lead peptides for each, four in total, which so far exist only as predictions on a computer. All four are now heading to a real lab for the first time, where they will first be synthesized and then tested on living cells carrying the target receptor to see whether they switch it on, how strongly, and how selectively.
This is the first real test of these designs, and whatever comes back feeds straight into the next round.
Network & Community Updates
- VitaDAO welcomed Michael Torres, PhD as a Core Advisor. He took a platform from lab bench to clinic to a ~$300M Eli Lilly acquisition (CrossBridge Bio), co-founded ReCode, and is the scientist behind VitaRNA. His project ARTAN Bio started inside VitaDAO with a $90K grant. That led to a $300K follow-on, which funded the tokenized IP behind the VitaRNA token, and more recently a $1M investment at a $4M pre-money valuation. Now he is helping build VitaDAO's crypto and biotech playbook.
- Molecule published an article analyzing "Science: A New Golden Age," the recent report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on what needs to change in American research funding.
- AthenaDAO hosted "Menopause and Fertility," a deep dive into the science of extending, delaying, and potentially ending menopause. Speakers included Dr. Kutluk Oktay on ovarian cryopreservation, Dr. Mario Cordero on drugs to extend fertility, Riva Tez on the case for gentler fertility medicine, and Cremieux on where bio and AI intersect. Watch the recap.
- HairDAO offered free trichoscans to their community in NYC, giving people a read on where they stand in their hair loss journey.
- SpineDAO has a new call for papers open. Frontiers in Blockchain is running a research topic, "Blockchain Applications Beyond Decentralized Finance: Stablecoins, Real-World Assets, and Decentralized Science," co-edited by SpineDAO founder Vincent Challier and Nassim Dehouche. They welcome original research, reviews, methods papers, community case studies, data reports, and policy briefs, and you can send a manuscript summary for a preliminary read before writing the full paper. Submissions are open now until February 28, 2027.
- Quantum Biology DAO founder Clarice D'Aiello joined a panel on extremophiles and human adaptation at "Designing the Future of Space," an Atlantic Space Hub conference held in Santa Maria, Azores.
- PsyDAO shared their project updates covering research across psychedelic medicine, endogenous DMT, autonomous science, and Amazonian art, now live at psydao.world.
- ValleyDAO's HEMPY project was presented at the 23rd EIHA Conference in Poland. The European Industrial Hemp Association Conference is a leading event for the industrial hemp sector, bringing together researchers, manufacturers, investors, and innovators to shape the future of hemp.
Stay updated via Telegram, Discord, and the Governance forum. Follow @BioProtocolEco for real-time updates.
