Democratising Science By Removing Secrecy

• In Event: Science and Activism: Medical Approaches

Abstract

Open Source Malaria (OSM) is an international consortium of drug discovery researchers with a difference: radical transparency.

Guided by The Six Laws of Open Science, OSM publishes all of its data in real-time on the internet for anyone to see, and will not patent any of its research. The aim is to find a new medicine for malaria – a disease that killed 445 000 people in 2016 – as quickly and cheaply as possible.

OSM has created a blueprint for open source drug discovery and aims to prove that research is more productive when ideas and critiques shared. OSM moves beyond traditional research practice and seeks to change existing models of drug discovery to improve access to essential medicines

This paper will examine open science as a form of activism by TRANSdisciplinary and cross-border practitioners. Removing secrecy from science is a key step in democratisation of the discipline. When scientific processes are transparent, and both successes and failures shared, the public are empowered.

Author

• Alice Williamson, The University of Sydney