US-China Biosecurity Cooperation: Start by Screening DNA OrdersUS-China Biorisk Cooperation: Yes, It’s Possible

AI makes designing dangerous pathogens easier, but the designs still have to pass through the physical world. Gene synthesis companies sit at the toll booth between digital biological know-how and real biological capability — screen their orders and you block a chunk of the risk.

What screening means

Nucleic acid synthesis screening is basically a security check for custom DNA and RNA orders. When someone orders a sequence, the provider compares it against databases of dangerous pathogens, checks whether the customer looks suspicious, and decides to fulfill, delay, or reject. The goal isn't to review every experiment but to make sure dangerous genetic material doesn't ship without scrutiny.

Right now it's all voluntary because the US has no mandatory rule. The Biden framework was scrapped by Trump, who promised something bigger and then went quiet. Bipartisan bills in Congress are now trying to force action.

What's in it for each side

China hosts about 34% of the world's DNA synthesis providers, its AI ecosystem is more open-source, and its model safeguards are weaker — a harder risk to govern. There's no mandatory national screening yet, but big names like BGI and GenScript already joined voluntary groups.

Beijing has even more reason to act: it doesn't want a COVID 2.0. And China already runs something close to KYC on its population, so verifying customers is easier there.

Screening won't slow biotech

Some worry screening drags on research, but DNA synthesis is one tiny step in a much longer pipeline. The real bottlenecks are cell work, clinical trials, and the like. Software already exists, costs are falling, and firms covering about 80% of global capacity already screen voluntarily. Making it mandatory mostly raises the floor for the laggards.

Cooperation starts with 'bragging'

US-China cooperation is hard because of verification fears, but screening lends itself to demonstrated cooperation: each side acts independently, reports annual screening numbers, and builds trust over time. Skip the BWC-style treaty route for now — it gets stuck on sovereignty and inspections. Start bilateral, with a race to see who screens more thoroughly.