Whoever created bitcoin probably didn't imagine it could have such an impact even in the areas of medicine. While being only theorized the bitcoin network could be used for scientific research in all areas of science, but the most interesting area is that of neuroscience.
The chief AI scientist of Matrix (a blockchain startup), Yangdong Deng, explained that Bitcoin mining computational power can be used for scientific innovation. This can be made possible by incorporating machine intelligence (or Artificial Intelligence A.I) into the blockchain ecosystem.
Deng explained that the total computing power in today’s world is 1.2 x 10²³ floating point operations per second (FLOPS). Whereas, the computing power used in Bitcoin mining processes is 8.23 x 10²² FLOPS making it the world biggest supercomputer, several times bigger than the current strongest supercomputer, Chinese Sunway TaihuLight (神威·太湖之光)
Therefore, Bitcoin mining consumes 17% of that global computing power, and that is why Bitcoin is often criticized for wasting energy (which honestly I agree. I do believe bitcoin mining could be optimized possibly using thermoelectric cooling [the Peltier effect]).
According to Deng, the computing power used for verifying transactions can have other uses outside the field of cryptocurrency. He argues that a massive computing power is required in many cases such as medical diagnoses, simulating chemical reactions and modelling complex finance.
For example, the simulation of the whole human metabolic network needs 1025 FLOPS while simulation of the brain network needs around 1018 FLOPS.
Intel has recently filed a patent for harnessing the energy used in cryptocurrency mining for sequencing genetic data. This application can have promising benefits for the society such as better prevention of cancer.
Sources:
https://bitstrades.com/news/bitcoin-news/60/can-bitcoin-mining-impact-neuroscience-chief-ai-scientist/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunway_TaihuLight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling