https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/pause-mirror-life/
On a molecular level, life as we know it has a
surprising bias. The building blocks of life — DNA,
RNA, and proteins — have a “handedness,” like our
left and right hands. For reasons still unclear,
nature almost exclusively uses right-handed DNA
and left-handed proteins. But what if science
flipped the script?
In labs around the world, scientists have
tinkered with this idea, crafting mirror versions
of life’s essential molecules. These synthetic
creations could revolutionize therapies for
diseases and contamination-resistant
manufacturing. At the same time, reversing a
molecule’s handedness could cause untold harm.
This week, nearly 40 scientists — including two
Nobel laureates — raised a chilling alarm. The
creation of “mirror life” — synthetic organisms
made of these reversed molecules — could lead to
catastrophic consequences. Their nearly 300-page
report, published in Science, is unequivocal:
research on mirror microbes should stop before
it’s too late.
“The threat we’re talking about is
unprecedented,” said Professor Vaughn Cooper, a
microbiologist at the University of Pittsburgh.
“Mirror bacteria would likely evade many human,
animal, and plant immune system responses and in
each case would cause lethal infections that
would spread without check.”
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