Crowdsourcing Discovery

It is time to experiment with the way we experiment. Using the Internet, we will enable the public to fund and participate in an open model of basic scientific research.

The Web, itself the fruit of curiosity-driven basic research, has transformed every industry and creative endeavor it has touched, promoting collaboration, openness and efficiency. But scientists are stuck in a closed, pre-Internet mindset. We aim to change that.

Who are we, and what do we want to do? For 5 years, Ethan Perlstein's lab at Princeton University has been developing a new evolutionary approach to studying how drugs work. For nearly 2 decades, David Sulzer's lab at Columbia Med School has been a leader in the study of how drugs affect the brain.

Our labs will now join forces to tackle a longstanding puzzle in mental health research: how does the family of drugs called amphetamines, which includes methamphetamine ("crystal meth"), actually work? Millions of people take these drugs every day, but we don't fully understand what they do at the cellular level. How can we hope for new treatments to brain diseases or addiction without basic understanding?

Simple: we can't.

We will use powerful, proven techniques to determine precisely where these drugs go deep inside brain cells, because in order to figure out how drugs work you first have to locate where they accumulate. Decades ago a similar approach famously demonstrated where the psychedelic drug LSD works within the brain. Since this is uncharted territory, we don't know for sure where they will end up, which means that you get to experience the thrill of discovery as it occurs!

To make this open approach work we need your support, and we invite you to the kickoff party for the first fully crowdsourced basic research project. Come and meet the team to learn more about Crowdsourcing Discovery!

*CROWDSOURCING DISCOVERY*

It is time to experiment with the way we experiment.

We will use the internet to allow the public to fund and participate

in a fully-crowdsourced basic research project.

The internet, itself the fruit of curiosity-driven research,

has transformed every creative endeavour it has touched,

promoting collaboration, openness, and efficiency.

But scientists are stuck in a closed, pre-internet mindset.

We aim to change that.

So who are we and what do we want to do?

For five years, Ethan Perlstein's lab at Princeton

has been developing a new evolutionary approach to studying how drugs work.

For nearly two decades, David Sulzer's lab at Columbia Med School

has been a leader in the study of how drugs affect the brain.

Our labs will now join forces to tackle a long-standing puzzle in mental health research.

How does the family of drugs called amphetamines, which includes methamphetamine, actually work?

Millions of people take these drugs every day,

yet we don't fully understand what they do at the cellular level.

How can we hope for new treatments to brain diseases or addiction without basic understanding?

Simple. We can.

We will use a proven technique called autoradiography to figure out where these drugs go in the brain.

Decades ago, this approach famously demonstrated that the psychedelic drug LSD

works by interacting with specific neurotransmitter receptors throughout the brain.

Autoradiography is really just radioactive photography.

We'll start by injecting into a sample a radioactive version of the drug,

which acts like a tiny homing beacon.

Then, we'll expose brain tissue to film.

The radioactive emissions appear as dark spots revealing the drug's precise locations.

By combining autoradiography with a powerful microscope, we will peer deep inside brain cells

to resolve once and for all where amphetamines accumulate.

The best part is, we don't know where it will end up,

so the public will experience the thrill of discoveries that occurs.

But to change the culture of science we need your support, and your input.

To bring you closer to the action, we will make all data we generate freely available on the web.

We will provide weekly blog and video reports

detailing how research is progressing on the project's website.

We will also hold regular online meetings to discuss results as they trickle in.

And, for the most generous supporters, we will offer the opportunity to engage in brainstorming sessions

to help us make any scholarly publications resulting from this project intelligible to non-scientists.

The lightbulb wasn't invented by someone improving the candle.

Together, we can create an open model of scientific research and communication

for the internet age and beyond.

*Crowdsourcing Discovery
@Crowd4Discovery*