Scientists have called for a halt on research to create "mirror bacteria" made in a lab amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth.
The international group of Nobel laureates and other experts, according to The Guardian, 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.
Although a viable mirror microbe would probably take at least a decade to build, a new risk assessment raised such serious concerns about the organisms that the 38-strong group urged scientists to stop work towards the goal and asked funders to make clear they will no longer support the research.
Quoting Vaughn Cooper, a microbiologist from the University of Pittsburgh, US, the Independent said, “A synthesized mirrored microbe wouldn’t just be essentially invisible to animals and likely plants but also other microbes, including viruses that could attack and kill it." This could enable the hypothetical life forms to spread easily between ecosystems, putting humans, animals and plants at continuous risk of infection, the scientists warned.
In a mirror bacterium, all building-block molecules like DNA and proteins are replaced by their mirror-image versions. They can’t naturally evolve from existing life but may be created artificially in a lab. But doing so still requires “substantial breakthroughs in synthetic cell research”, the scientists were quoted as saying by the Independent.
Scientists have already manufactured large, functional mirror molecules to study them more closely. Some have even taken baby steps towards building mirror microbes, though constructing a whole organism from mirror molecules is beyond today’s know-how.
The work is driven by fascination and potential applications. Mirror molecules could be turned into therapies for chronic and hard-to-treat diseases, while mirror microbes could make bioproduction facilities, which use bugs to churn out chemicals, more resistant to contamination, The Guardian report said.
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.