Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the uses of compound development in medicinal chemistry as a community-building exercise through the example of Open Source Malaria, a pharmaceutical initiative that crowdsources the identification and modulation of promising antimalarial compounds.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the uses of compound development in medicinal chemistry as a community-building exercise. The empirical focus is on Open Source Malaria (OSM), an initiative that applies the principles of open source software to the development of new antimalarial compounds. OSM draws on publicly available chemical libraries to search for promising drug discovery leads. The process of assessing and modulating select compound structures is then conducted in full public view, primarily via a series of online platforms and open-source digital tools. The paper analyzes the particular processes of disclosure that create and sustain a sense of community among participants, and the form of scientific identity that is enacted in the process of conducting medicinal chemistry work "in the open."