Cloudsciencing [sic]

A potential game-changer in contract research services domain & I’m talking about the latest concept that calls “Putting Science in the Cloud” in its intro of Emerald Cloud Laboratory, essentially what looks like an idle infrastructure monetization initiative of the 'stealth start-up', Emerald Therapeutics.

Pun apart, if indeed this turns out like it’s promised, a scientist in any part of the world will be able to simultaneously prescribe & iterate-on (with the robotic handlers) the experiments that she/he outsourced. This in turn will make it easy for more drug discovery start-ups to emerge (including some garage innovators too..) & pursue their dreams in a quicker, cheaper & more efficient way (~ the likes of DNAnexus claim that as scale emerges, it’s possible that a whole human genome can be sequenced for a mere $1000!)

The above scenario also implies that scale is a possibility & efficiency at scale an absolute need for any player in this emerging domain.

With only JIT availability of both laboratory & equipment consumables as a probable potential 'scale-limiting' bottleneck, I won't be surprised if the domain of cloud contract laboratory services (I wouldn’t yet call this research..) is quickly populated & dominated by the likes of Life Technologies, a process likely starting with acquisition of buyer organizations by these technology platform & consumable behemoths.

An exciting prospect surely for a scientist currently hyperventilating while awaiting the outcome of an outsourced experiment.

Take me in, dammit! - a gripe & a request

For the lack of any better term, I christen myself an inafluxer, to mean a nouveau Linkedin author who’s dying to be an influencer but loathe to admit it! (or not..)

Right from the day I have been given the privilege of publishing on LI (no email, just stumbled upon it..) & I grabbed it greedily, I’ve been trying to make sense of what exactly it takes to get the inafluxer articles ‘featured’ on relevant channels.

While I couldn't identify any rationale yet, I observed a probable trend wherein LI;

• Identifies profiles that could be potential churners of reasonable quality posts on largely generic/ popular issues & ones that could beget a loyal following
• Invites them to publish on LI with a personalized email; ensure their initial posts get huge viewership, build a quick following & thus compel the new writers to get regular with posts – a clever no-cost approach to develop quality content by utilizing the inherent need of smart, opinionated & communicative individuals to be heard and importantly, to be recognized.
• Essentially, this appears to me as an "Influencer Seeding Program", assuming that a lot of the current stock of Influencers will soon encounter a writer’s block if not a cramp.

I could be dead-wrong in my hypothesis, but a chap who writes on pharma venture capital, while not even being a VC, doesn't fit the bill perhaps.

bummer...

PS: yelling apart, I am all willing to be used free & fair - Try me LI, I don't tire easy :-)

Disclaimer: The inafluxer logo is of course fake & has been put together with a harmless & sole intention of enabling this funny (hopefully) rejoinder grab some eyeballs

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