Concerted action urged over potentially ‘catastrophic’ damage to humanity from manufactured bacteria
Scientists have raised the alarm about the potentially existential threat of “mirror life” — manufactured bacteria that are structural reflections of natural microbes and could overwhelm the defences of people, other animals and plants. An international group of almost 40 researchers, including two Nobel laureates, warned on Thursday that such synthetic organisms might “pose unprecedented and largely overlooked risks to much of existing life”.
These synthetic structures could be effective stealth agents against pathogens such as HIV, precisely because the body’s natural defences will not be able to destroy them. But the leap from making useful mirror molecules to manufacturing mirror bacteria “cannot be justified by the relatively limited potential benefits”, the Science article authors write. Mirror organisms might be used as bioweapons but the far bigger risk is of an accidental leak from a lab into the environment, scientists say.
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