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345

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

submitted 5 days ago by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/news@lemmy.world

95 comments fedilink hide all child comments

World-leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create “mirror life” microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth.

The international group of Nobel laureates and other experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could become established in the environment and slip past the immune defences of natural organisms, putting humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections.

Many molecules for life can exist in two distinct forms, each the mirror image of the other. The DNA of all living organisms is made from “right-handed” nucleotides, while proteins, the building blocks of cells, are made from “left-handed” amino acids. Why nature works this way is unclear: life could have chosen left-handed DNA and right-handed proteins instead.

The fresh concerns over the technology are revealed in a 299-page report and a commentary in the journal Science. While enthusiastic about research on mirror molecules, the report sees substantial risks in mirror microbes and calls for a global debate on the work.

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[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

I get what you're saying. Sorry people are misinterpreting and misconstruing your comment and making you out to be some sort of evil antivaxxer. You're right in the way that pathogens exploit these quirks to their full extent and would be an invisible threat if they managed to mimic our molecules and become undetectable and indestructible to our immune system by their very nature.

Although you're right about how autoimmunity generally works, the molecular mimicry causing autoimmunity that you mentioned is the exact opposite of the experts' concerns. For example, left-handed pathogens' topology (the molecular surface that the immune system "feels" for and detects) would be a mirror image, so there's probably no risk of autoimmunity since it's entirely different to your own proteins from your immune system's point of view.

But the main concern is how our immune systems are simply not be equipped to handle the mirror molecules once detected. It'd be unable to break them down via precise enzymatic degradation, which in turn would limit recognition via antigen presentation from one cell to another down the line, rendering our body unable to coordinate. We'd need to evolve an entirely new set of enzymes and strategies to handle this.

Here's a better article that makes a better job at explaining the experts' concerns:
https://phys.org/news/2024-12-mirror-bacteria-pose-global-health.html

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Sorry people are misinterpreting and misconstruing your comment and making you out to be some sort of evil antivaxxer.

Reading comprehension, even in a place like this where most people are relatively educated, has completely gone down the shitter.

I just skimmed their comment, and it was clear to me from the first couple sentences that this person isn't anti-vax...

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

Thank you for that explanation and extra source.