SynBioBeta Speaker
Jacob Beal
RTX BBN Technologies
Engineering Fellow
Dr. Jacob Beal, an Engineering Fellow at RTX BBN Technologies, is the lead developer of FAST-NA Scanner, an adaptation of signature-based malware scanning to DNA synthesis biosecurity screening, now being used as commercial software in the DNA synthesis industry. Dr. Beal also co-leads the Sequence Biosecurity Risk Consortium (SBRC), an effort to establish international standards for testing biosecurity sequence screening systems, as well as organizing efforts to respond to emergent AI-driven biosecurity threats, representing BBN to the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC), and leading maintenance of the IGSC’s Regulated Pathogen Database.Dr. Beal is also known for his work in other areas of synthetic biology, including development of standards for representation and communication of biological designs and experiments, methods for calibrated flow cytometry, precision analysis and design of genetic regulatory networks, and engineering of biological information processing devices.
Sessions Featuring
Jacob
This Year
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Tools & Tech
Ecosystem of Nucleic Acid Order Screening
Significant advances have been made in the regulation and oversight of synthetic nucleic acid order screening since the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services issued its initial guidance. Panelists from industry, policy, and the technical community will discuss major these advances as well as remaining challenges. They will explore what “winning” looks like for the field considering aspects such as international cooperation, balancing innovation and growth with security, and the impact of current initiatives. The conversation will highlight lessons from synthetic nucleic acid governance that can inform oversight of other emerging technologies.
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Tools & Tech
Ecosystem of Nucleic Acid Order Screening
Significant advances have been made in the regulation and oversight of synthetic nucleic acid order screening since the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services issued its initial guidance. Panelists from industry, policy, and the technical community will discuss major these advances as well as remaining challenges. They will explore what “winning” looks like for the field considering aspects such as international cooperation, balancing innovation and growth with security, and the impact of current initiatives. The conversation will highlight lessons from synthetic nucleic acid governance that can inform oversight of other emerging technologies.
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Business of Biology
The New Biosecurity Frontier: AI, Automation, and the Rise of Biodefense in Programmable Biology
As AI, automation, and scalable biotechnologies accelerate the design and deployment of biology, the line between innovation and risk is increasingly blurred. This session explores how advances in programmable biology are reshaping biosecurity and biodefense, from dual-use risks and supply-chain vulnerabilities to new models for detection, governance, and defense. Leaders from industry, government, and research will discuss how to responsibly accelerate biology while protecting public health and national security.
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Business of Biology
The New Biosecurity Frontier: AI, Automation, and the Rise of Biodefense in Programmable Biology
As AI, automation, and scalable biotechnologies accelerate the design and deployment of biology, the line between innovation and risk is increasingly blurred. This session explores how advances in programmable biology are reshaping biosecurity and biodefense, from dual-use risks and supply-chain vulnerabilities to new models for detection, governance, and defense. Leaders from industry, government, and research will discuss how to responsibly accelerate biology while protecting public health and national security.
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Business of Biology
Synthesis Screening in the Age of Powerful AI
As AI reshapes what's possible in biology, biosecurity needs to keep up. Nucleic acid synthesis screening, which checks what's being ordered and by whom, is one of the field's most important lines of defense. But as AI capabilities advance, the screening infrastructure needs to evolve with them. This panel brings together leaders from the Sequence Biosecurity Risk Consortium, Fourth Eon Bio, SecureDNA, and BioTrust to discuss how sequence and customer screening are adapting to a new threat landscape.
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Business of Biology
Synthesis Screening in the Age of Powerful AI
As AI reshapes what's possible in biology, biosecurity needs to keep up. Nucleic acid synthesis screening, which checks what's being ordered and by whom, is one of the field's most important lines of defense. But as AI capabilities advance, the screening infrastructure needs to evolve with them. This panel brings together leaders from the Sequence Biosecurity Risk Consortium, Fourth Eon Bio, SecureDNA, and BioTrust to discuss how sequence and customer screening are adapting to a new threat landscape.
Session lineup still growing
Featuring
Speaker Coming Soon
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Human Health
From Cells to Patients: Solving the Scale Mismatch in Virtual Biology
Drug discovery often measures biology at the cell level while interventions work at the tissue, organ, or whole-patient scale. This mismatch can make accurate cell-level predictions irrelevant in the clinic. This session dives into strategies to bridge that gap: multiscale modeling that nests single-cell dynamics within organ-level simulations, spatial transcriptomics that preserve context, and surrogate models that translate cell-level outputs into clinical biomarkers. Speakers will ask: how do we ensure virtual biology reflects not just what cells do in isolation, but how biology behaves in the real complexity of patients?
Featuring
Speaker Coming Soon
