Globalizing and crowdsourcing biomedical research

<span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Introduction or background</div>Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing of medical research has emerged as a novel paradigm for many biomedical disciplines to rapidly collect, process and interpret data from high-throughput and high-dimensional experiments. The novelty and promise of these approaches have led to fundamental discoveries about RNA mechanisms, microbiome dynamics and even patient interpretation of test results. However, these methods require robust training protocols, uniform sampling methods and experimental rigor in order to be useful for subsequent research efforts. Executed correctly, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing can leverage public resources and engagement to generate support for scientific endeavors that would otherwise be impossible due to funding constraints and or the large number of participants needed for data collection.<div class="boxTitle">Sources of data</div>We conducted a comprehensive literature review of scientific studies that utilized crowdsourcing and crowdfunding to generate data. We also discuss our own experiences conducting citizen-science research initiatives (MetaSUB and PathoMap) in ensuring data robustness, educational outreach and public engagement.<div class="boxTitle">Areas of agreement</div>We demonstrate the efficacy of crowdsourcing mechanisms for revolutionizing microbiome and metagenomic research to better elucidate the microbial and gene...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research