Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you really think that people can afford to crowdfund multi-year complex research into illnesses and diseases? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1551949/ > It often takes more than 10 years to deliver a final, licensed vaccine,5 and requires not only excellence during research and product development but also managerial and funding commitment throughout the endeavor. The cost of developing a vaccine—from…
Do you really think that people can afford to crowdfund multi-year complex research into illnesses and diseases? Of course they can. Where do companies get their money from? Thin air?
I find it hard to imagine that you could keep asking for more and more funding on a promise for a cure for something in 5-10 years down the road, and continue to have the same private individuals with very little personal wealth continue to throw their earnings at it.
I imagine that individual smaller projects may well benefit from it, but crowd-sourcing cancer or something equally grand, people would lose interest in it. Not because they don't care, but because human beings have human timescales attached to expectations. Something that has a hard to quantify immediate success or reward attached to it is less likely to attract attention and investment.