ScreenDNA is a multi-stakeholder open letter, published June 3, 2026, calling on the US Congress to make screening of orders for synthetic nucleic acids — and the equipment used to make them — mandatory, paired with recordkeeping of orders and sequence data to support biosecurity investigations and enable traceability. It was organized by the Institute for Progress (Alec Stapp) and the Foundation for American Innovation (Zach Graves), and signed by the CEOs of the four leading frontier labs, gene-synthesis-industry leaders, Nobel laureates, and senior national-security figures.
Primary text: screendna.org (signed coalition letter, published June 3, 2026). Organized by the Institute for Progress (Alec Stapp) and the Foundation for American Innovation (Zach Graves). For the analytical page on the underlying risk, see AI Biosecurity.
Summary of the argument
The letter's central argument is that while the biosecurity case for screening synthetic nucleic acids has been recognized "by scientists and governments for decades," the pace of AI progress is new: "AI systems now outperform PhD-level virologists on questions about highly technical laboratory procedures," and there is "a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode." It describes screening as "one of the best understood and least disruptive biosecurity measures available" and states that support for it "does not depend on any particular view of AI."
The signatories note the limits of voluntary action. Although many of the largest providers already screen and record voluntarily, and the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (formed 2009) has implemented voluntary safeguards, the letter argues the need is now urgent — "Congress should act this session" — and that states should align on existing federal and industry guidelines "to ensure a consistent national standard rather than a patchwork of conflicting laws."
The two asks
- Mandatory screening of all synthetic DNA/RNA orders — and the synthesis equipment — against databases of sequences of concern, with customer-legitimacy verification before shipping.
- Recordkeeping of orders and sequence data to support biosecurity investigations and enable traceability, including for sequences that "would not raise concern in isolation." The letter argues that "awareness of traceability itself deters misuse."
Signatories
The letter describes itself as "a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds," and its signatories span several constituencies:
- Frontier-lab CEOs: Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind; 2024 Nobel Chemistry), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Mustafa Suleyman (Microsoft AI) — the heads of all four leading labs — plus Alexandr Wang (Meta CAIO; Scale AI founder), Patrick Collison (Stripe), Paul Graham (Y Combinator), Eric Horvitz and Jason Kwon, and Martin Hellman (2015 Turing Award).
- AI-policy skeptics: Sayash Kapoor, co-author of AI as Normal Technology, whose signature indicates the screening case crosses the existential-risk / normal-technology divide.
- Gene-synthesis industry: Emily Leproust (Twist Bioscience), Jason Gammack (Ansa Biotechnologies), James Diggans (VP Policy & Biosecurity, Twist; Chair, International Gene Synthesis Consortium).
- Life sciences: David Baker (2024 Nobel Chemistry), Drew Endy (Stanford), Kevin Esvelt (MIT), Tom Inglesby (Johns Hopkins), David Relman (Stanford).
- National security / policy: Christine Wormuth (former Secretary of the Army), Richard Danzig (former Secretary of the Navy), Andy Weber, Lawrence Lessig, Tristan Harris.
The letter builds on existing scaffolding — the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (2009), Biden-era nucleic-acid-screening guidelines, and the bipartisan Cotton–Klobuchar Senate bill — and was published amid evidence that AI tools can evade existing screening, including the 2025 Microsoft Science protein-design study.
Provenance / verification
Canonical host: screendna.org (HTTP 200). The full letter text and signatory list were reproduced verbatim from the primary site during the June 4, 2026 gap scan. The letter was corroborated by WIRED (Emily Mullin, June 4, 2026) and multiple independent outlets, and by the June 3 WSJ report on the CEO-signed letter to Congress.
Relationships
- supports: AI Biosecurity — the core risk the letter responds to
- related: AI as Normal Technology — Sayash Kapoor's signature crosses the risk-framing divide
- related: AI Governance (umbrella) — the letter argues voluntary screening is insufficient and seeks a federal mandate