Biologists Call For A Halt To ‘Mirror Life’ Research

Key takeaways

Mirror life refers to organisms that have opposite chirality compared to regular life, leading to significant biological implications.
Creating mirror microorganisms poses risks, such as potential antibiotic resistance and difficulties for the immune system to recognize these organisms.
A coalition of scientists is advocating for a halt in mirror life research due to ethical considerations and potential environmental dangers.
Despite cautions regarding mirror life, synthetic biology offers promising advancements that could lead to positive changes in medicine and ecological sustainability.

Summary

The Concept of Mirror Life

In this episode, Ira speaks with Dr. Drew Endy about the intriguing yet controversial subject of mirror life, which posits a hypothetical organism with opposite chirality—right-handed proteins and left-handed DNA. This notion sparks interest among scientists for its potential applications in medicine and biology but also raises serious ethical and ecological concerns.

The Risks of Creating Mirror Microorganisms

Dr. Endy outlines significant concerns within the scientific community regarding the development of mirror organisms. Key worries include their potential to evade the human immune system, making existing antibiotics ineffective against infections caused by these microbes. With a mirror E. coli capable of growing in our bodies, researchers fear this could lead to new and severe health threats.

Community Response and Ethical Dilemmas

The podcast discusses a growing coalition of researchers advocating against the pursuit of mirror life experiments, echoing sentiments reminiscent of historical debates over genetic engineering. Dr. Endy emphasizes the need for transparency, thoughtful dialogue, and ethical considerations before proceeding with such potentially risky biological innovations.

Hopeful Prospects in Synthetic Biology

Despite the warning about mirror life, Dr. Endy holds an optimistic view on the future of synthetic biology. He discusses exciting advancements that could lead to beneficial applications, such as bioengineered organisms that address various environmental and healthcare challenges. Synthetic biology’s potential to work harmoniously within ecosystems is a beacon of hope for the future.

Show notes

You’re probably familiar with the concept of handedness—a glove made for your left hand looks basically like the one for your right hand, but won’t fit—it’s a mirror image. Many of life’s important molecules, including proteins and DNA, are chiral, meaning they can exist in either a left-handed or a right-handed form. But on Earth, nature only uses one version or the other in living organisms. Your proteins, for example, are all the left-handed version, while your DNA is all right-handed.

With advances in synthetic biology, it could be possible to build an artificial organism that flips that shape, having right-handed proteins and left-handed DNA. Writing in the journal Science, an international group of researchers recently cautioned against anyone trying to create that sort of so-called mirror life, saying that it poses the threat of “unprecedented and irreversible harm” to human health and global ecosystems.

Dr. Drew Endy, a synthetic biology researcher at Stanford University and one of the authors of that warning, joins Ira to discuss the concept of mirror life and why a group of researchers felt compelled to call for a halt to mirror life experiments.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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