DNA synthesis companies screen orders against pathogen databases but LLMs can design novel sequences that bypass screening

Commercial DNA synthesis companies (Twist, IDT, GenScript) screen orders against known pathogen genome sequences to prevent bioweapon synthesis. But LLMs trained on biology literature can suggest novel gene modifications that produce toxic proteins or enhance transmissibility without matching any known pathogen sequence in the screening database. The screening catches known threats but is blind to novel designs. This persists because sequence screening uses exact and fuzzy matching against a static database of ~60 known threat agents, while the space of possible dangerous sequences is combinatorially vast and the LLM can explore it at zero marginal cost.