SynBioBeta Speaker
Samuel King
Stanford University
Bioengineering Phd Candidate
Samuel King is a Ph.D. candidate in Bioengineering at Stanford University and the Arc Institute, advised by Dr. Brian Hie in the Laboratory of Evolutionary Design. He researches AI for biology, with the goal of understanding and designing genome-scale systems to improve human and planet health. Samuel works at the interface of computational and experimental biology, recently contributing to efforts developing the genome language models Evo 1 and Evo 2 and leading the creation of the world's first functional AI-generated genomes. He previously earned his M.S. from Stanford and his B.Sc. Hons. from the University of British Columbia.
SynBioBeta 2026 Tickets are Live
Confirmed Speakers
Sessions Featuring
Samuel
This Year
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Tools & Tech
Genome as a Canvas: Composing Life at Scale
Reading, writing, and editing DNA were just the prelude. The next frontier is composition, designing complex genetic systems and large DNA architectures from first principles using AI-driven models and scalable synthesis technologies. As datasets grow and design tools mature, biology is shifting from incremental editing toward intentional genome-scale engineering. This new paradigm treats DNA not simply as a sequence to modify but as a programmable substrate where genes, regulatory elements, and entire genomic regions can be composed, tested, and iterated like engineered systems. Advances in generative design, large-scale DNA assembly, and precision integration technologies are enabling researchers to construct increasingly complex genetic structures with higher predictability and functional intent. From next-generation recombinases and genome restructuring platforms to AI-guided design workflows that bridge computation and physical DNA construction, the emerging toolkit is redefining how biological complexity is created. The session explores how compositional genome engineering could unlock new capabilities across therapeutics, industrial biology, and synthetic life design.
Purchase Pass
Featuring
David Ewing Duncan
Arc Fusion
CEO
Kaihang Wang
Caltech
Assistant Professor
Building synthetic genomes to create new life forms.
Samuel King
Stanford University
Bioengineering Phd Candidate
Genome language models designing new bacteriophages
Andrew Hessel
Human Genome Project-write
Chairman
Genome-writing pioneer, Singularity University visionary
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Tools & Tech
Genome as a Canvas: Composing Life at Scale
Reading, writing, and editing DNA were just the prelude. The next frontier is composition, designing complex genetic systems and large DNA architectures from first principles using AI-driven models and scalable synthesis technologies. As datasets grow and design tools mature, biology is shifting from incremental editing toward intentional genome-scale engineering. This new paradigm treats DNA not simply as a sequence to modify but as a programmable substrate where genes, regulatory elements, and entire genomic regions can be composed, tested, and iterated like engineered systems. Advances in generative design, large-scale DNA assembly, and precision integration technologies are enabling researchers to construct increasingly complex genetic structures with higher predictability and functional intent. From next-generation recombinases and genome restructuring platforms to AI-guided design workflows that bridge computation and physical DNA construction, the emerging toolkit is redefining how biological complexity is created. The session explores how compositional genome engineering could unlock new capabilities across therapeutics, industrial biology, and synthetic life design.
Purchase Pass
Featuring
David Ewing Duncan
Arc Fusion
CEO
Kaihang Wang
Caltech
Assistant Professor
Building synthetic genomes to create new life forms.
Samuel King
Stanford University
Bioengineering Phd Candidate
Genome language models designing new bacteriophages
Andrew Hessel
Human Genome Project-write
Chairman
Genome-writing pioneer, Singularity University visionary
Session lineup still growing
Purchase Pass
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?
Purchase Pass
Featuring
Speaker Coming Soon
