Geopolitics mixed · 1–3 years
A what‑if from the future

What if the US restricts gene-synthesis and AI protein-design tools?

Restricting DNA-synthesis hardware and AI protein-design models fragments pharma/biotech R&D, not chips - the real names are Twist Bioscience, gene-synthesis vendors and AI-bio platforms, so mapping this to TSMC/Nvidia/ASML is a category error. No clean analogue; closest is the nascent BIS biotech/Tencent-Wuxi listing pressure. The 1-3yr horizon and biotech locus mean equity impact is diffuse; the forward angle is dual-use bio controls are new regulatory terrain, so the semiconductor_risk root is misapplied.

20%
our model probability
over 1–3 years
prediction markets — the market's odds
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Anchored to measured history 20% · 90% range 9–30% · 40 dated precedents behind it — a wider range means thinner evidence

Every number ships with its receipt — the odds, the range, the precedents, and a public grade at Reality Check. The statistical machinery that produces it is proprietary.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (electric blue) over time vs the market's (Polymarket, amber), from the past toward the 1–3 years horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. Loading the probability audit trail…

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What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a mixed shock. US restricts DNA-synthesis hardware and AI protein-design models, fragmenting global pharma R&D supply chains. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Trade tension ▲ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Market odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-08-13.