A groundbreaking study evaluates the feasibility, risks, and ethical considerations of creating mirror bacteria with reversed chirality, highlighting potential threats to health and ecosystems.
In a recent study published in Science, a team of researchers investigated and discussed the potential roadblocks to and risks of “mirror life,” where life forms are synthesized using biomolecules with reversed chirality compared to natural life.
The researchers assessed the feasibility, safety concerns, and governance strategies to address the unprecedented risks posed by these synthetic life forms.
Background
Natural life is characterized by specific molecular chirality, with ribonucleic acid (RNA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and proteins being composed of specific enantiomers.
Advances in synthetic biology now allow for the synthesis of mirror-image biomolecules, which are resistant to degradation and hold promise for therapeutic applications.
Furthermore, the creation of mirror organisms, such as mirror bacteria, represents a significant advancement in biological engineering that can combine these mirror-image biomolecules into viable life forms.
However, while synthetic mirror molecules offer some benefits, the construction of mirror organisms also raises significant concerns. Such entities could evade immune responses, resist natural predators, and potentially proliferate uncontrollably, presenting risks to health and ecosystems.
Although existing studies have explored the functionality of these mirror biomolecules, a comprehensive risk assessment for mirror organisms is lacking.
The growing technical feasibility of creating mirror life highlights the need for deeper understanding, ethical considerations, and regulatory measures to address potential dangers and to balance scientific progress with public safety.
About the study
The present study analyzed the feasibility and risks associated with creating mirror bacteria using mirror-image biomolecules. The team, consisting of experts in synthetic biology, immunology, ecology, and biosecurity, assessed the technical challenges and potential hazards of mirror life.
They focused on the likelihood of mirror bacteria surviving and spreading in natural and host environments, with specific attention to their interactions with immune systems and ecosystems.
The analysis highlighted key technical hurdles in constructing mirror bacteria, including synthesizing complex mirror molecules such as DNA, proteins, and ribosomes. Furthermore, the researchers identified and discussed the two potential methods for constructing mirror organisms.
The study also examined how mirror bacteria might evade immune defenses, given the importance of chirality to immune recognition. Additionally, the researchers emphasized the risk of ecological invasion and compared mirror bacteria to invasive species that thrive without natural predators.
Results
The study reported that mirror bacteria could evade immune responses and disrupt ecosystems, posing significant risks. These organisms were expected to resist common immune mechanisms, such as antigen presentation and antibody production, potentially allowing unchecked growth.
Mirror bacteria were also predicted to survive environmental challenges, avoiding predation and natural microbial competition due to their reversed chirality.
The researchers determined that reversed chirality makes mirror biomolecules resistant to immune recognition and predation, enabling their survival and proliferation in natural environments. Such bacteria could potentially cause severe infections in humans, animals, and plants due to impaired immune defenses.
Furthermore, the findings indicated that mirror bacteria could potentially also resist degradation from immune processes, such as antigen presentation and antibody generation.
Vertebrate immune systems, which rely on these mechanisms, would likely be ineffective against mirror pathogens. Invertebrates and plants may also experience compromised immune responses.
The experimental data indicated that mirror proteins could also be resistant to cleavage and may not effectively trigger adaptive immune mechanisms, supporting the predictions about the severe pathogenic potential of these organisms.
Beyond health risks, the authors predicted that mirror bacteria could also evade natural microbial competitors and predators, including bacteriophages and antibiotics, due to their unique chirality.
This could allow them to colonize various environments, much like invasive species with limited natural controls.
Even with proposed biocontainment measures, such as engineered dependencies on synthetic nutrients, the potential for escape and misuse remains significant. The researchers stated that physical containment measures, while helpful, are vulnerable to accidents and failures.
The capacity of the mirror bacteria to exploit achiral nutrients and engineered pathways for consuming common nutrients further increases their potential to thrive outside laboratory settings.
The analysis also highlighted the potential for ecological imbalance. The persistent presence of mirror bacteria in ecosystems could lead to global dissemination, evolution, and harm to biodiversity. Even stringent biocontainment measures might fail to prevent accidental or even deliberate release.
Conclusions
In summary, the study stated that while mirror biomolecules offer valuable scientific applications, the risks of creating mirror bacteria far outweigh the potential benefits.
The study stated that creating mirror bacteria poses extraordinary risks to health and ecosystems due to immune evasion and ecological disruption, and the findings called for stringent policies to prevent the development of mirror organisms.
Preventing the development of mirror organisms ensures public safety while allowing progress in beneficial areas of synthetic biology. Furthermore, the team emphasized that collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders is essential to mitigate these risks responsibly.
- Adamala, Katarzyna P, Agashe, D., Belkaid, Y., Matias, D., Cai, Y., Chang, M. W., Chen, I. A., Church, G. M., Cooper, V. S., Davis, M. M., Devaraj, N. K., Endy, D., Esvelt, K. M., Glass, J. I., Hand, T. W., Inglesby, T. V., Isaacs, F. J., James, W. G., Jonathan, & Kay, M. S. (2024). Confronting risks of mirror life. Science, 0(0), eads9158. doi:10.1126/science.ads9158. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9158
News
Scientists May Have Found a Secret Weapon To Stop Pancreatic Cancer Before It Starts
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have found that blocking the FGFR2 and EGFR genes can stop early-stage pancreatic cancer from progressing, offering a promising path toward prevention. Pancreatic cancer is expected to become [...]
Breakthrough Drug Restores Vision: Researchers Successfully Reverse Retinal Damage
Blocking the PROX1 protein allowed KAIST researchers to regenerate damaged retinas and restore vision in mice. Vision is one of the most important human senses, yet more than 300 million people around the world are at [...]
Differentiating cancerous and healthy cells through motion analysis
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have found that the motion of unlabeled cells can be used to tell whether they are cancerous or healthy. They observed malignant fibrosarcoma cells and [...]
This Tiny Cellular Gate Could Be the Key to Curing Cancer – And Regrowing Hair
After more than five decades of mystery, scientists have finally unveiled the detailed structure and function of a long-theorized molecular machine in our mitochondria — the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier. This microscopic gatekeeper controls how [...]
Unlocking Vision’s Secrets: Researchers Reveal 3D Structure of Key Eye Protein
Researchers have uncovered the 3D structure of RBP3, a key protein in vision, revealing how it transports retinoids and fatty acids and how its dysfunction may lead to retinal diseases. Proteins play a critical [...]
5 Key Facts About Nanoplastics and How They Affect the Human Body
Nanoplastics are typically defined as plastic particles smaller than 1000 nanometers. These particles are increasingly being detected in human tissues: they can bypass biological barriers, accumulate in organs, and may influence health in ways [...]
Measles Is Back: Doctors Warn of Dangerous Surge Across the U.S.
Parents are encouraged to contact their pediatrician if their child has been exposed to measles or is showing symptoms. Pediatric infectious disease experts are emphasizing the critical importance of measles vaccination, as the highly [...]
AI at the Speed of Light: How Silicon Photonics Are Reinventing Hardware
A cutting-edge AI acceleration platform powered by light rather than electricity could revolutionize how AI is trained and deployed. Using photonic integrated circuits made from advanced III-V semiconductors, researchers have developed a system that vastly [...]
A Grain of Brain, 523 Million Synapses, Most Complicated Neuroscience Experiment Ever Attempted
A team of over 150 scientists has achieved what once seemed impossible: a complete wiring and activity map of a tiny section of a mammalian brain. This feat, part of the MICrONS Project, rivals [...]
The Secret “Radar” Bacteria Use To Outsmart Their Enemies
A chemical radar allows bacteria to sense and eliminate predators. Investigating how microorganisms communicate deepens our understanding of the complex ecological interactions that shape our environment is an area of key focus for the [...]
Psychologists explore ethical issues associated with human-AI relationships
It's becoming increasingly commonplace for people to develop intimate, long-term relationships with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. At their extreme, people have "married" their AI companions in non-legally binding ceremonies, and at least two people [...]
When You Lose Weight, Where Does It Actually Go?
Most health professionals lack a clear understanding of how body fat is lost, often subscribing to misconceptions like fat converting to energy or muscle. The truth is, fat is actually broken down into carbon [...]
How Everyday Plastics Quietly Turn Into DNA-Damaging Nanoparticles
The same unique structure that makes plastic so versatile also makes it susceptible to breaking down into harmful micro- and nanoscale particles. The world is saturated with trillions of microscopic and nanoscopic plastic particles, some smaller [...]
AI Outperforms Physicians in Real-World Urgent Care Decisions, Study Finds
The study, conducted at the virtual urgent care clinic Cedars-Sinai Connect in LA, compared recommendations given in about 500 visits of adult patients with relatively common symptoms – respiratory, urinary, eye, vaginal and dental. [...]
Challenging the Big Bang: A Multi-Singularity Origin for the Universe
In a study published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, Dr. Richard Lieu, a physics professor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), which is a part of The University of Alabama System, suggests that [...]
New drug restores vision by regenerating retinal nerves
Vision is one of the most crucial human senses, yet over 300 million people worldwide are at risk of vision loss due to various retinal diseases. While recent advancements in retinal disease treatments have [...]
