A free, open-source, globally-available tool for synthesis screening
- Recognize potentially risky sequences, by screening for sequences of concern like toxins and pathogen genes
- Decide whether to trust customers with ordered sequences, by screening for legitimacy
Challenge: preserving access while preventing misuse
Accessible and affordable synthetic nucleic acids are essential for modern biotechnology. However, for nearly 20 years, industry leaders have recognized that some sequences, such as those that can reconstruct pathogen genomes or engineer dangerous agents, should only be sent to trusted customers.
Synthetic nucleic acids haven’t been misused to create harm (that we know of), but their potential to be misused has been recognised by smallpox-ordering journalists, Biological Weapons Convention delegates, responsible protein designers, and many others. In 2025, it’s easier than ever to write DNA. Costs are down, and fragments have grown from gene-length to genome-length. The risk landscape includes AI-designed proteins, enzymatic synthesis, automated biofoundries, and benchtop synthesizers, and new standards, tools, and regulations are changing the incentives around synthesis screening. However, many orders are still not screened at a baseline level.
The Common Mechanism was designed to address a number of challenges that DNA providers face:
The Common Mechanism was developed in partnership with the International Technical Consortium for DNA Synthesis Screening, which was launched by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in partnership with the World Economic Forum in 2019. Discussions about technical specifications for the Common Mechanism began in 2020, initial databases and a screening algorithm were developed throughout 2021-2023, and the first version of the software was released in 2024.
Our Work: creating a common global baseline for synthesis screening
We have released commec, a free, distributed, open-source tool for screening sequences of nucleic acids. The software package is designed as a global baseline for nucleic acid synthesis screening, supporting users to:
- Start screening in compliance with national and international requirements
- Boost screening with resilience to AI-generated sequences and subversion attempts
- Serve a global market with an internationally-designed screening tool
- Maintain control and privacy with local-first screening.
The Common Mechanism has been tested against real customer orders and exceeds benchmarks including the Bronze Standard test set. You can learn more about how to get started with the tool and see the results of performance testing at the links below.
If you have any questions or would like assistance getting started, please get in touch with our team at screening@ibbis.bio.
Publications
- Preprint. Toward AI-Resilient Screening of Nucleic Acid Synthesis Orders: Process, Results, and Recommendations.Bruce J. Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, Craig Bartling, Jacob Beal, Adam Clore, James Diggans, Kevin Flyangolts, Bryan T. Gemler, Tom Mitchell, Steven T. Murphy, Nicole Wheeler, Eric Horvitz. Available on bioRxiv.
- May 2024. Progress and Prospects for a Nucleic Acid Screening Test Set. Nicole E. Wheeler, Craig Bartling, Sarah R. Carter, Adam Clore, James Diggans, Kevin Flyangolts, Bryan T. Gemler, Brittany Rife Magalis, and Jacob Beal. Applied Biosafety. Available online.
- April 2024. Overcoming Challenges to Developing a Common Global Baseline for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening.Nicole Wheeler, Sarah R. Carter, Tessa Alexanian, Christopher Isaac, Piers Millett, Jaime Yassif. Applied Biosafety.Available online (archive).
- February 2024. Verifying Legitimacy: Findings from the Customer Screening Working Group, 2020-2023. Tessa Alexanian, Sarah R. Carter. IBBIS White Paper.Available online.
- May 2023. Benchtop DNA Synthesis Devices: Capabilities, Biosecurity Implications, and Governance.Sarah R. Carter, Jaime Yassif, Christopher Isaac, NTI | bio. Available online.
- January 2020. Biosecurity Innovation and Risk Reduction: A Global Framework for Accessible, Safe and Secure DNA Synthesis. Elizabeth Cameron, Sarah R. Carter, Jacob Jordan, and Ryan Morhard. Report of the NTI-WEF Working Group on Working Group on Preventing Illicit Gene Synthesis. Available online.
- October 2018. Universal Platform to Prevent Illicit Gene Synthesis. Patrick Boyle and Ryan Morhard. NTI Biosecurity Innovation and Risk Reduction Initiative Paper 1. Available online,