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‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

Leading scientists, including Nobel laureates, are urging a halt to research on creating “mirror life” microbes, citing “unprecedented risks” to life on Earth.

Mirror microbes, built from reversed molecular structures, could evade natural immune systems, leading to uncontrollable lethal infections.

While mirror molecules hold potential for medical and industrial uses, researchers warn that mirror organisms could escape containment and resist antibiotics.

A 299-page report in Science advocates banning such research until safety can be ensured and calls for global debate on its ethical and ecological implications.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Prions are comprised of right-handed amino acids. I don't think it's the same thing to flip the chirality of a molecule as to flip the chirality of its subcomponents. DNA is usually right-handed, but there are left-handed forms created naturally. They don't suddenly annihilate their counterparts in antimatter-like collisions.

There are natural pharmaceuticals that consist of both chiralities, and obviously plenty of synthetic ones.

It's really not that simple. If we want to think about it longer, fine by me. But what is the real threat level?

Edit: As others have pointed out, prions also aren't an example of a different chirality of the native protein. The issue with prions is they can convert the native protein to their form, which "reproduces" themselves to make the disease progress. Mirrored organisms will propagate the chirality of their components, but their components don't inherently convert their enantiomers once that organism is dead.