GCBR Organization Updates, March 2026
Updates from Active Site, Asia Center for Health Security, IBBIS, SecureBio, and Sentinel Bio
Our newsletters were getting quite long, so we're making a change: each organization will now contribute to every other edition, and we'll be sending newsletters every six weeks instead of quarterly. This keeps individual editions more manageable while letting us share opportunities with you more frequently!
In this issue:
A randomized controlled trial on whether LLMs can help novices perform wet lab tasks (spoiler: yes, for some steps, but without much impact on end-to-end success)
Slides / recordings on the Global Risk Index for AI-Powered Biodesign Tools, Lessons Learned from COVID-19, and standards and regulatory requirements for screening synthetic DNA orders
and more!
Active Site
Active Site studies frontier AI in synthetic biology.
We ran the largest and longest in-person randomized controlled trial in AIxBio to answer whether mid-2025 frontier AI models help complete novices perform foundational biology tasks. For more details, read the arXiv preprint, blog post, and forecasting study with FRI.
Asia Centre for Health Security
The Asia Centre for Health Security (ACHS) (news) is an academic think tank set up to strengthen Asia’s readiness for biological threats through scientific evidence, building of expertise and capabilities, and the forging of strategic partnerships. Our vision is a united and resilient Asia safeguarded against health security threats for the well-being of future generations.
During the recent ACHS Webinar Series, Dr. Sana Zakaria, Senior Research Leader for Emerging Technology, RAND Europe, highlighted the role of artificial intelligence-enabled biological design tools (AI-BDTs) in biomedical research. Her talk, entitled “Global Biorisk Index for AI-Powered Biodesign Tools”, also noted how existing AI governance frameworks are ill-suited to address the unique risk profile of BDTs. Watch the webinar recording here.
Simon Fraser University (SFU) and ACHS recently co-hosted a public lecture entitled “Managing Borders during Global Public Health Emergencies; Lessons Learned from COVID-19”, featuring Prof Kelley Lee, Canada Research Chair Tier I in Global Health Governance from SFU and the University of British Columbia, Canada, as key speaker. This was followed by a panel discussion on the Southeast Asian experience of border control measures, featuring experts from the region, and moderated by ACHS Director, Prof Hsu Li Yang. Watch the lecture here.
IBBIS
The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) (news) is a Geneva-based nonprofit that works collaboratively with global partners to strengthen biosecurity norms and develop innovative tools to uphold them.
First DNA Screening Standards Consortium (DSSC) meeting: The DSSC brings together experts to develop practical implementation guidance of globally relevant screening practices. Its first meeting on 10 February reviewed the draft 2026–2027 Roadmap, shared regional and policy updates, and introduced the draft outline of the ISO 20688-2 Implementation Guide (a priority identified by the EU Commission). For more, contact Sophie Peresson (sophie@ibbis.bio).
IBBIS participates in an EU Commission Workshop: IBBIS shared perspectives on standards and regulatory requirements for screening synthetic DNA orders, drawing on insights from the Global DNA Synthesis Map to highlight current practices, gaps, and opportunities across the EU. Outcomes will inform the broader impact assessment of the proposed Biotech Act.
Kirsten Kulcsar Weand joins IBBIS: Before IBBIS, Kirsten served as Director of the Office of the Biological Policy Staff at the U.S. Department of State, and previously on the National Security Council at the White House. Her work will focus on export controls and vulnerability reporting.
SecureBio
SecureBio (newsletter) is a nonprofit research organization working on new technologies and policy proposals to delay, detect, and defend against catastrophic pandemics.
SecureBio’s Nucleic Acid Observatory (NAO) published a preprint of its findings after conducting untargeted metagenomic sequencing of airplane wastewater for viral surveillance. The team found that across the human-infecting RNA viruses they examined, relative abundances were consistently higher in airplane wastewater than in municipal wastewater, with a median increase of 13x. This suggests that monitoring air travelers for disease is a high-leverage pathogen detection strategy. A blogpost discussing the project can be found here.
SecureBio’s AI team published a blog reviewing their many achievements in 2025 – a year during which the team tripled its headcount – which describes its work to turn AI-biorisk evaluations from a set of bespoke projects into something closer to an ecosystem capability. We are also pleased to announce that the AI team won a contract to help build and run bio-evals for the European Commission’s AI Office, as part of the EU AI Act. This is the group’s second government engagement in addition to its work building bio-evals for US CAISI.
The NAO will have multiple hiring opportunities in the coming months for scientists, laboratory automation specialists, and project managers. The AI team is going to expand its strategic operations and will soon open a round for a senior position. Please keep an eye out on the SecureBio careers page or contact info@securebio.org if you have any questions.
Sentinel Bio
Sentinel Bio is a non-profit philanthropic fund focused on eliminating pandemic risks.
AIxBio:
We’re reviewing our AIxBio strategy, examining assumptions and uncertainties underlying our current and future work.
Active Site’s major RCT on novice AIxBio uplift, which we supported last year, is now published.
Nucleic acid governance:
We renewed our support for rani to continue their synthesis screening policy work in Europe. We also supported SecureDNA for a go-to-market plan for DNA synthesis screening tools; Ed You for a playbook on biosecurity law enforcement coordination; and Frontiers Media for open-access articles on synthetic nucleic acids.
We’re supporting the IGSC in hiring a Program Associate/Manager.
General:
We published our annual letter and a blog post on why we’re doubling down on synthesis screening after evaluating >200 alternative chokepoints.
Opportunities
Jobs
Active Site is hiring for a Head of Ops, Lab Ops Manager, Scientist, and Research Associate! https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/activesite
Sentinel Bio is recruiting a Senior Program Officer for their work in Asia and an Operations Specialist.
The International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC) is hiring a Program Associate/Manager.
The SecureBio Ops team is looking for an Office Manager & Operations Coordinator.
Blueprint Biosecurity is hiring for a Chief of Staff, Recruiting Lead, Operations Associate and Far-UVC Program Officer.
Lila AI is making the first hires for their Safety Team “to prepare for risks from scientific superintelligence”.
Amodo Design is hiring for a biosecurity Field Lead to “to own and drive our biosecurity engineering workstream”.
Other
Apply by March 5 for the 2026 Youth for Biosecurity Fellowship, run by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).
The next rounds of the Biosecurity Course from BlueDot Impact being in mid-March; apply by March 8!
Encode AI is co-sponsoring Assembly Bill 1864 in California and supporting Sen. Cotton and Sen. Klobuchar's Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act in Congress to require gene synthesis screening. If you are interested in publicly (e.g., testifying at a hearing) or privately (e.g., meeting with staff) supporting either effort, please reach out to ben@encodeai.org.
The Institute for Progress has an open Request for Proposals to the Launch Sequence, looking for pitches related to accelerating science, strengthening security, and adapting institutions.
The ICGEB Fellowships for Scientists in Biosecurity offers early-career scientists from OECD/DAC countries a fellowship at ICGEB laboratories in Italy, India, South Africa and at the ICGEB Regional Research Centre in China, apply by March 31!
Do you have any opportunities (jobs, events, etc.) you would like to share with our network? Please email Anemone at anemofranz@gmail.com to submit them.
We regularly solicit updates from a group of organizations that we believe are doing impactful work to reduce GCBRs in order to improve transparency, facilitate collaboration, and otherwise accelerate progress in our community.
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Cover image credit: Drawing of the 1918 Influenza. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Excited to see this every 6 weeks and this was a very good read!