Gennaro D’Urso started Genetic Networks, a for-profit organization focusing on drug discovery, after spending years working in laboratories researching the cell cycle and the genetics of human disease. Due to a genetic eye disorder, D’Urso lost eyesight in both of his eyes as a teenager. He then underwent corneal transplant surgery, which restored 20/20 vision in one of his eyes. Because of this incident, he changed his focus from business to science, eventually earning a Ph.D. in molecular genetics.

He spent several years studying the interactions between genes and proteins and how to recognize and record them. He thinks that the method medications are now evaluated is frequently unsustainable and inefficient due to the failure rates and accompanying research expenses, even though many pharmaceutical companies look at gene targets that have the potential to be effective.

In his interview, D’Urso said, “Genetic Networks was primarily driven by… the constraints I found in the pharmaceutical sector and the way it handles drug discovery.

D’Urso concluded that the drug-discovery tools would work better outside the academic setting. To generate functional profiles of how genes and medications act, he developed Genetic Networks. He thinks that pharmaceuticals can be repurposed in a way that is quicker, safer, and less expensive by using applied modular biology and genome-wide analytics.

A friend first exposed him to Bitcoin in 2021. Later, he dove deeper into the blockchain realm and came across decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), which he thinks have a bright future.

“DAOs are not businesses. According to D’Urso, a DAO might act as a catalyst or an accelerator.

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He emphasizes that Genetic Networks is not yet affiliated with any DAO. Still, he thinks the connection between private businesses and DAOs is on the “verge,” where they can work together to find new drugs for those needing them.

He thinks DAOs might be used to address some of the most pressing global issues (such as access to food, water, healthcare, and shelter) while yet preserving the possibility of the DAO community as a whole profiting from significant discoveries. D’Urso believes that DAOs might, at a higher level, engage in agreements with private businesses that would permit the funding DAOs to collect a percentage of associated royalties.

According to D’Urso, royalties instead of VC investment could be a promising substitute that provides creators more power. D’Urso emphasizes that the blockchain industry is not his area of expertise and claims that PharmaDAO is only his “brainchild.” His main areas of expertise are strictly off-chain, including genetic networks and the practice of fusing technology and drug research. Despite being new to the blockchain environment, he has been interacting with Web3 communities and specialists to explain why he believes DAO structures provide a good auxiliary structure and funding source for his business.

D’Urso noted that major drug discoveries – and potentially big partnerships – may be in Genetic Networks’ future in addition to the possibility of integrating the systematic drug discovery approach of Genetic Networks with DAO structures.

Beyond the DAO paradigm, he considers it encouraging that people in impoverished countries might use blockchain technology to take control of their financial lives by managing their cryptocurrency wallets: We (those in the rich world) are unaware of how significantly less fortunate people’s lives can be changed by blockchain technology.