Prediction: Open-Sourced Bio & Tech Inventions

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Prediction: The Next Generation of Bio & Tech Inventions Might Be Open-Sourced

Status: Not Happening

Collectively, we are witnessing the beginning of a new open source movement. The same rebellious explosion that created Linux, Firefox, and Wikipedia is breaking out in the science community. Instead of companies like Monsanto owning patents on seeds used to make food, the next generation of bio and tech inventions might just be open sourced. There is still room for companies to play alongside but in a different way. One way is to sponsor Maker facilities and competitions, build services and add-ons for biopunk inventions, facilitate project collaboration, and provide commercialization expertise for the gems that emerge. The Discovery Channel and shows like Mythbusters and BattleBots will continue to fuel this trend.

Econovation, 2011 (p 139)

What Happened

There have been selective examples of open-source science and innovation, but realistically, this quote from”Why Monopoly Is The Future & We Love It” pretty much sums up where this is going:

Sweet, innocent open source options – like Firefox, OpenOffice and Linux – eventually get smothered by vicious tycoons dressed in harmless hoodies.

There’s only so much freelancers can do – or be. They need capital – for equipment, sustenance, staff – to do long-term, substantive research. All the capital-holders that can offer the right incentives are privatized and centralized. And will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Some progress in this space:

What’s Next?

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