Mirror bacteria may constitute ‘radical departure from known life,’ scientists warn

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. While the science and technology necessary to create mirror bacteria in a laboratory is a decade or more away, the scientists argued that the possibly lethal risks posed by this new field of research are “unprecedented” and “overlooked.” “Driven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating lifeforms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules,” the researchers wrote in a report published December 12 by the journal Science. “Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration.” A fundamental feature of all known life is a uniform chirality, or handedness. While the authors, who included experts in immunology, plant pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, biosecurity and planetary sciences, had initially been skeptical that mirror bacteria could pose major risks, the experts said they had now become “deeply concerned.” “It’s a genie you don’t want to let out of the bottle,” said report coauthor Jonathan Jones, a group leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, United Kingdom. Scientists had been trying to create synthetic life using non-mirror molecules for more than a decade, Ellis said, but they were still a “long way” from having self-sustaining cells that can divide, replicate and evolve.