Screen and record all DNA synthesis Biorisk and Recovery from Catastrophe
Screening all DNA synthesis orders for potentially serious hazards would reduce the risk that a dangerous biological agent is engineered and released. Robustly recording what DNA is synthesized (necessarily in an encrypted fashion) would allow labs to prove that they had not engineered an agent causing an outbreak. We are interested in funding work to solve technical, political and incentive problems related to securing DNA synthesis.
Meta note: there are already some cool EA-aligned projects related to this, such as SecureDNA from the MIT Media Lab and Common Mechanism to Prevent Illicit Gene Synthesis from NTI/IBBIS. Also, this one is not an original idea of mine to an even greater extent than the others I’ve posted.
Screen and record all DNA synthesis
Biorisk and Recovery from Catastrophe
Screening all DNA synthesis orders for potentially serious hazards would reduce the risk that a dangerous biological agent is engineered and released. Robustly recording what DNA is synthesized (necessarily in an encrypted fashion) would allow labs to prove that they had not engineered an agent causing an outbreak. We are interested in funding work to solve technical, political and incentive problems related to securing DNA synthesis.
Meta note: there are already some cool EA-aligned projects related to this, such as SecureDNA from the MIT Media Lab and Common Mechanism to Prevent Illicit Gene Synthesis from NTI/IBBIS. Also, this one is not an original idea of mine to an even greater extent than the others I’ve posted.