A category of synthetic organisms called “mirror lives,” whose constituent molecules are mirror images of their natural counterparts. May pose unprecedented risks to human life and ecosystemsaccording to a perspective article by leading experts, including Nobel Prize winners. Article published in science December 12th is accompanied by a long report It details their concerns.
Mirror life has to do with a universal phenomenon in nature: molecules or one object cannot simply be superimposed on another. For example, you can’t simply flip your left hand over your right hand. This handedness is found throughout nature.
Groups of molecules of the same type tend to have the same handedness. For example, the nucleotides that make up DNA are almost always right-handed, while proteins are made up of left-handed amino acids.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. Currently subscribing. By subscribing, you help ensure future generations of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape the world today.
Handedness, formally known as chirality, is of great importance in biology because interactions between biomolecules depend on them having a predicted shape. For example, when a protein’s handedness is reversed, it is no longer able to interact with partner molecules such as receptors on cells. “Think of it like a hand in a glove,” says Katarzyna Adamara, a synthetic biologist at the University of Minnesota and co-author of the paper and its accompanying nearly 300-page technical report. say. “My left glove doesn’t fit my right hand.”
The authors are concerned about mirror bacteria, the simplest form of life to which their concerns apply. Although the ability to create mirror bacteria does not yet exist and is “at least 10 years away,” they write, progress is being made. Researchers can already synthesize mirror biomolecules such as DNA and proteins. At the same time, progress was also made in the direction of creating synthetic cells from non-mirrored components. In 2010, researchers at California’s J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) introduced synthetic DNA into cells. The first cell with a fully synthesized genome.
Creating a mirror life will require further breakthroughs, but it is achievable with significant investment and effort. “We’re not relying on scientific advances that may never happen. We can create a list of things we need to do to build a mirror cell,” Adamara says. “This is no longer science fiction.” Adamara previously worked on creating mirror cells, but now says that if mirror bacteria were created, the consequences would be irreversible ecological damage and loss of life. We are concerned that this may be included. The paper’s authors, who include experts in immunology, synthetic biology, plant pathology, evolutionary biology, and ecology, as well as two Nobel laureates, are researchers, policymakers, regulators, It calls on society as a whole to begin a debate about the best path to a better society. Understand and mitigate the risks identified by the authors. Unless evidence emerges that it reflects life; do not have They recommend that research aimed at creating mirror bacteria should not be carried out, as it poses extraordinary risks.
The initial enthusiasm for creating mirror-image versions of bacteria began with a simpler imagination. Researchers considered the possibility of working with mirror versions of proteins and other molecules It is a component of such an organism. An example is a drug that must be readministered periodically because biological processes break down the molecule. Because mirror versions of biomolecules do not interact with these molecular machinery, drugs built with mirror molecules may have longer-lasting effects. .
Many of the mechanisms of the immune system are also dependent on handedness. For example, T cells responsible for recognizing foreign invaders may not be able to bind to something if they have the wrong handedness. Therefore, these treatments may also avoid triggering an immune response in patients. “Mirror peptides are potentially good therapeutic agents because they are not easily degraded,” says co-author John Glass, a synthetic biologist at JCVI. “I don’t see any reason to ban this.”
Potential applications for mirrors bacteria This could be a bioreactor, a biological factory, which uses cells and microorganisms to manufacture various compounds such as antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) can wipe out bacteria-based bioreactors, at great expense and time, but mirror bacteria do not recognize the molecules, so bacteriophages are unlikely to infect them. Probably. Similarly, natural enemies such as amoebas that prey on normal bacteria would not be able to recognize mirror bacteria as food.
It is these supposedly advantageous properties that have raised concerns among scientists. “All the practical applications that brought us to this field are why we fear it now,” Adamara says. The ability to evade the immune response allows bacteria to multiply unchecked and cause potentially fatal infections. Unlike viruses, bacteria do not need to interact with specific molecules to infect organisms, and mirror bacteria can infect a wide range of hosts, including humans, other animals, and plants. And the lack of predators can allow mirror bacteria to spread widely throughout the ecosystem.
According to Dr. Glass, many of the authors initially thought that mirror bacteria could not survive outside the laboratory because of the lack of nutrients in the mirror, but the report now shows that there is sufficient nutrients to feed and sustain mirror bacteria. It is concluded that there is. Researchers are discussing potential biosafety measures, such as developing mirror phage viruses that can infect and kill mirror bacteria, but conclude that they are likely not sufficient protection. . “None of them [authors] “We were able to come up with countermeasures that we believe are effective enough to protect the biosphere from these organisms,” Glass says.
Not everyone agrees that mirror bacteria pose such a big risk. “Mirror-image bacteria would have a significant competitive disadvantage and would not survive successfully,” said Andrew Ellington, a molecular biologist at the University of Texas at Austin who works on synthetic biology. He is not convinced that it is appropriate to sound the alarm this far in advance of any threat, or the existence of technology that could be used to directly create it. “This is like banning transistors because you’re worried about cybercrime 30 years from now,” Ellington said. He also worries that governments and regulators may not respond as authors expect, potentially hampering useful research. “I’m not really worried about little-known threats 30 years from now compared to what we can do now,” he says.
Although the exact risks may be uncertain, teeth What is certain is that any threat remains at bay. “It’s hard to convey risk scenarios because the technology hasn’t arrived yet, but this paper can start that discussion,” said Nicholson, a California-based science policy biosafety consultant and former JCVI policy analyst. says Sarah Carter, who works on biosecurity and policy implications. Development of emerging biotechnologies. “So I commend this group for looking to the future and bringing attention to this.
