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16-12-2024, 08:18 AM
A league of scientists are calling for a critical discussion on the dangers of life forms made up of 'mirror-image molecules', because of the significant risks these creations may pose to global health.
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"Driven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating life forms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules," the 38 experts write in a Science commentary.
"Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration."
All life as we know it arises from 'right-handed' nucleotides in our DNA and RNA, and 'left-handed' amino acids that come together to form proteins.
This phenomenon is called homochirality. We don't know for sure why it exists, but this defining feature of our biosphere's chemical reactions leaves no room for alternatives.
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The fact that the body can't break down these mirror-version proteins was initially considered a selling point, but that incompatibility with 'natural' life is also what now has scientists concerned.
"There is a plausible threat that mirror life could replicate unchecked, because it would be unlikely to be controlled by any of the natural mechanisms that prevent bacteria from overgrowing," explains biochemist Michael Kay from the University of Utah.
"These are things like predators of the bacteria that help to keep it under control, antibiotics and the immune system, which are not expected to work on a mirror organism, and digestive enzymes."
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Our molecular chirality makes us compatible with the molecular makeup of the organisms we break down for food, and it's quite likely that mirror bacteria would struggle to survive without food that reflects its own makeup.
But the dozens of scientists behind the new paper agree that we cannot afford to play with such unknowns, even though the threat is far from imminent.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-...bal-health
......
"Driven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating life forms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules," the 38 experts write in a Science commentary.
"Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration."
All life as we know it arises from 'right-handed' nucleotides in our DNA and RNA, and 'left-handed' amino acids that come together to form proteins.
This phenomenon is called homochirality. We don't know for sure why it exists, but this defining feature of our biosphere's chemical reactions leaves no room for alternatives.
......
The fact that the body can't break down these mirror-version proteins was initially considered a selling point, but that incompatibility with 'natural' life is also what now has scientists concerned.
"There is a plausible threat that mirror life could replicate unchecked, because it would be unlikely to be controlled by any of the natural mechanisms that prevent bacteria from overgrowing," explains biochemist Michael Kay from the University of Utah.
"These are things like predators of the bacteria that help to keep it under control, antibiotics and the immune system, which are not expected to work on a mirror organism, and digestive enzymes."
......
Our molecular chirality makes us compatible with the molecular makeup of the organisms we break down for food, and it's quite likely that mirror bacteria would struggle to survive without food that reflects its own makeup.
But the dozens of scientists behind the new paper agree that we cannot afford to play with such unknowns, even though the threat is far from imminent.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-...bal-health
