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 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’sAndroid division, was named Chief Technology Officer of Arc Institute in 2024.[10]
Funding structure
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
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 announced a partnership with Nvidia to integrate biology and machine learning.[23]
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