Blockchain technology applied to medical research can improve trust in science by creating an immutable and time-stamped record of research findings. Blockchain technology, invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, ensures that transactions entered into a ledger cannot be changed over time. Applied to the cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC), the result is a monetary system that cannot be manipulated by a centralized government because it creates a permanent and accurate record of all transactions. The strength of the system comes from its use of a distributed database compared to current monetary systems that require a centralized database such as that used by credit card companies and banks. The application of this same technology to medical research increases confidence in the results because, like bitcoin, transactions (collected scientific data) are permanently archived in an immutable and immutable way.
Exchanging money, like conducting medical research, requires a high level of trust. Money in the past has built this trust through government regulations and central bank supervision. Medical research in the past has attempted to create high levels of trust through peer review by reputable medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine. Both methods of building trust depend on a trusted central authority, be it the government or a medical journal. As such, both methods are highly susceptible to fraud through corruption or innocent errors of centralized authority. This has led to widespread mistrust of medical research. Bitcoin operates differently, because it establishes a method of trusting a distributed network based on a mathematical algorithm, rather than a centralized authority susceptible to human error.
Financial transactions require perhaps the highest level of trust. People should know that all transactions recorded in the general ledger must be completely accurate and fully resistant to changes in the future. Because the blockchain technology implemented in bitcoin has earned this trust, bitcoin has become a widely used store of value with a market capitalization of more than $ 100 billion USD. When other cryptocurrencies are considered, the total trust in blockchain-based financial systems exceeds $ 250 billion USD. Similarly, healthcare professionals must be able to trust that data obtained from medical research is completely accurate and completely immutable. Doctors should know that medical research is not plagiarized or fraudulent in any way. Blockchain technology has made Bitcoin a trusted global currency. In the same way, blockchain-based medical research will greatly increase confidence in the results and, as a result, improve healthcare.
