Arc Institute
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| Founded | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Silvana Konermann, Patrick Hsu, Patrick Collison |
| Focus | Biomedical research |
| Location | |
| Endowment | $650 million |
| Website | arcinstitute.org |
Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit biomedical research organization based in Palo Alto, California.[1] It was co-founded by Stanford University biochemistry professor Silvana Konermann, UC Berkeley bioengineering professor Patrick Hsu, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, with Konermann as its inaugural executive director.[2][3] The institute provides its scientists with multi-year funding for the study of complex diseases.[3] It operates in partnership with three major San Francisco Bay Area research universities—Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCSF.[1]
History
[edit]Arc Institute was founded in 2021 to provide scientists with unconstrained research opportunities without the need for external grant applications.[4][3] This followed a collaboration between Konermann, Hsu, and Collison on Fast Grants during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] A survey of that program’s participants indicated that most scientists would change their research plans if they had access to flexible funding.[1]
Arc Institute launched with an initial endowment of $650 million.[4] Its founding donors included Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison and John Collison, angel investor Ron Conway, Color Genomics co-founder Elad Gil, Cue co-founder Daniel Gross, Facebook and Asana co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Open Philanthropy chair Cari Tuna, General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja, and Jane Street Capital executives. Arc's funding philosophy was inspired by those of programs like the Broad Institute,[6] Howard Hughes Medical Institute[2] and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.[5] Silvana Konermann is the Executive Director, and Patrick Hsu leads the development of research teams focused on technology related to biological research. Both Konermann and Hsu head research labs in addition to their other roles in the institute.[4]
Arc Institute maintains eight laboratories at its facility in Stanford Research Park and funds projects at partner universities.[7][8][9] Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi and Human Cell Atlas co-founder Aviv Regev serve on its scientific advisory board, and Github co-founder Nat Friedman, Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Meta Chief Financial Officer Susan Li serve on its board of directors. Dave Burke, former Vice President of Engineering for Google’s Android division, was named Chief Technology Officer of Arc Institute in 2024.[10]
Funding structure
[edit]Arc Institute brings researchers from varied backgrounds under one roof in an effort to facilitate collaboration between biologists doing experimental research and researchers creating new technology.[8]
Arc Institute has three main funding categories: Core Investigators, Innovation Investigators, and Ignite Awards, as well as a mentorship program.[9]
Arc Core Investigators work within the institute itself with a budget to support a lab of up to 20 people and full funding for laboratory operations for eight years.[9][8] Arc also hosts technology development centers and experimental laboratories to research complex diseases.[1][11]
Arc Innovation Investigators are granted $1 million over five years, while Ignite Awards grant researchers from the three partner universities $100,000 for one year.[9]
Research
[edit]In 2024, Arc researcher Patrick Hsu and collaborators[12][13] developed a new method of genetic engineering called "bridge RNA" that simplifies the process of gene modification with increased precision to minimize disease risk.[11][14] The research was described in two papers published in Nature in 2024.[15][16][11]
Also in 2024, Hsu and Brian Hie trained an AI model on 300 billion DNA letters including long sequences of bacteria and archaea.[17][18] Called "Evo", this model uses deep learning architecture to model and predict DNA sequences at a single-nucleotide resolution and design biological systems such as CRISPR-Cas complexes and transposable elements.[19] This research was published in Science in 2024.[20][21] Evo was also highlighted by The New York Times for a "Good Tech Award" in 2024.[22]
In January 2025, Arc Institute partnered with Nvidia to integrate biology and machine learning.[23]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Piper, Kelsey (18 December 2021). "Can a new approach to funding scientific research unlock innovation?". vox.com.
- ^ a b "New ways to pay for research could boost scientific progress". The Economist. 15 November 2023.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Derek (20 January 2022). "Silicon Valley's New Obsession". The Atlantic.
- ^ a b c Leuty, Ron (15 December 2021). "New institute will fund Stanford, Berkeley, UCSF scientists targeting complex human diseases". San Francisco Business Times.
- ^ a b Keown, Alex (16 December 2021). "New Non-Profit Snags Three Big Name Research Partnerships". biospace.com.
- ^ Johnson, Stephen (14 August 2024). "How Arc Institute is bringing science into the century of biology". freethink.com.
- ^ Ford, Celia (12 September 2024). "Science has a short-term memory problem". vox.com.
- ^ a b c "Arc Institute launched with $650 million for complex diseases research". philanthropynewsdigest.org. 17 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d Leuty, Ron (20 September 2023). "Backed by tech entrepreneurs, Arc Institute adds to its scientific ranks". San Francisco Business Times.
- ^ "JPMorgan CISO says three trends play a role in how he protects the banking giant". Fortune. 6 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Peel, Michael (26 June 2024). "Gene editing breakthrough promises to boost fight against disease". Financial Times.
- ^ Floersh, Helen (1 July 2024). "No CRISPR, no problem: 'Jumping gene' system could be bridge to complex gene editing". fiercebiotech.com.
- ^ Adkins, Jessica (4 July 2024). "A "Word Processor" for Genes – Scientists Unveil Fundamentally New Mechanism for Biological Programming". scitechdaily.com.
- ^ Grinstein, Jonathan (26 June 2024). "Come Together: Bridge RNAs Close the Gap to Genome Design". genengnews.com.
- ^ Durrant, Matthew; Perry, Nicholas; Pai, James (27 June 2024). "Bridge RNAs direct programmable recombination of target and donor DNA". nature. 630 (8018).
- ^ Hiraizumi, Masahiro; Perry, Nicholas; Durrant, Matthew (27 June 2024). "Structural mechanism of bridge RNA-guided recombination". nature. 630 (8018).
- ^ Molteni, Megan (17 May 2024). "ChatGPT for genomes: introducing a CRISPR-designing generative AI". statnews.com.
- ^ Atkinson, Sophie (18 November 2024). "Arc Institute releases ChatGPT for DNA named Evo". readwrite.com.
- ^ Chakraverty, Anita (15 November 2024). "Evo AI Model Decodes and Engineers Genetic Sequences, acting as Biological "Rosetta Stone"". insideprecisionmedicine.com.
- ^ Nguyen, Eric; Poli, Michael; Durrant, Matthew (15 November 2024). "Sequence modeling and design from molecular to genome scale with Evo". Science. 386 (6723).
- ^ Yirka, Bob (15 November 2024). "Evo—an AI-based model for deciphering and designing genetic sequences". phys.org.
- ^ Roose, Kevin (30 December 2024). "The 2024 Good Tech Awards". New York Times.
- ^ Philippidis, Alex (15 January 2025). "Illumina, Nvidia Launch AI-Based Genomics Partnership". genengnews.com.