Mirror Bacteria Research Poses Significant Risks, Dozens of Scientists Warn

oneAs synthetic biologists, we have been in awe of the breakthroughs in the field over the past few decades. Over the past fifteen years, synthetic biologists have stockpiled books, picture,even video In DNA, abilities are developed Modify engineered genes with extremely high accuracy,even created an organism Chromosomes designed using computers and synthesized in the laboratory.^1-5

These advances allow us to Developing effective drugs against diseases such as malariainnovative lightweight, biodegradable and high-strength materials such as artificial spider silkand Enhance our understanding of how life formed.^6-8 In many cases, these breakthroughs were unforeseen and would not have happened if scientists were not free to conduct research.

However, we have recently Joining many other scientists call for a study no What to pursue: Work that could lead to the creation of “mirror bacteria.”⁹ These bacteria are composed of all the components that natural cells possess, but each biopolymer has the opposite stereochemistry. We are passionate defenders of allowing scientists to conduct research with as few restrictions on intellectual curiosity as possible, and calling for bans is not something we do often or lightly. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and this is one of them. Unless compelling evidence emerges that mirror-image bacteria do not pose unacceptable risks, we believe that research into developing mirror-image life should not continue.

The charm of mirror life

Life is incredibly complex and fascinatingly mysterious. What draws us to synthetic biology is precisely how much we can learn about life by trying to recreate it from scratch, and the all-important ways we use it. It is for this reason that both of us have dedicated much of our careers to the creation of synthetic cells.

Cells are the basic building blocks of life. Create synthetic cells by using synthetic molecules to replicate cellular functions or assembling natural molecules into synthetic systems for everything from development to Bacteria-based self-healing concrete to create a smallest cell This allows us to study the first principles of cellular life.^10,11

Minimal cells are particularly valuable because normal cells contain many different components that can react in complex ways with many other molecules and cells, making them difficult to use for research or drug development. Because minimal cells are created by eliminating genes that are not needed for growth in laboratory cultures, they cannot survive outside our labs. The extreme simplicity of these smallest cells makes them an ideal research platform for understanding the fundamentals of life and understanding how drugs affect basic cell biology.

For these reasons, in 2018 we, together with others, launched “construction cells” Community – a network of researchers aiming to develop synthetic living cells.¹² Around this time, we also began working on the development of “mirror batteries.”

Many molecules are chiral, meaning they exist in left- and right-handed forms. When you hold chiral molecules in front of a mirror, their mirror images have different three-dimensional orientations. A mirror image of a ball or a wine glass might look the same, but a mirror image of a right hand looks like a left hand. Nature tends to prefer one form over the other. For example, amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) tend to exist in the “left-handed” form. Sugar—the building block of carbohydrates—tends to be found in the right-handed form. The term “mirror image molecule” refers to a molecule that has the opposite chirality to the form most commonly found in nature. Unnatural mirror molecules, e.g. right hand amino acid or left hand candy It’s made in a laboratory.^13,14

Many of the adverse reactions avoided by mirror cells depend on sensing and responding to chiral molecules. Therefore, cells composed of mirror-image molecules do not interact with most normal molecules and cells in the first place. Mirror cells could provide a promising method for studying life forms that are far less polluting, or for producing mirror drugs that are not broken down or removed by cellular processes in the body. We are beginning to study mirror cells to realize these benefits and more, and we all look forward to seeing the success of research in this area over the coming decades.

With the right ingredients and nutrients, normal cells can quickly form living life forms, such as bacteria. Likewise, with the right ingredients and nutrients, mirror cells can form mirror bacteria. This technology is still very far away, and if it ever comes to fruition, it would be an incredibly impressive feat of engineering. While we were both initially excited about the prospect of developing mirror life, we changed our minds when we learned that mirror bacteria could have incredibly lethal effects if introduced into the wild.

Why are mirror bacteria dangerous?

Often, artificial or modified organisms struggle for survival compared to natural organisms. Microorganisms developed in laboratory settings often grow under highly specific conditions with very specific nutrients whose composition and concentration do not reflect the complex and diverse conditions found in nature. So while it’s unfortunate that laboratory breaches do occur – hundreds of “Possible Release” Events Each Year Resulting in at least one or two detected infections per year – most infections involving artificial or modified organisms do not result in outbreaks because they are too “fragile” to thrive in the outside world’s hostile environment and can easily become Prey natural predators such as viruses that target bacteria (bacteriophages).¹⁵

However, many interactions between organisms and cells depend first on being able to sense and react to chiral molecules. Their incompatibility with natural biological responses would leave mirror-image bacteria without natural enemies in the wild, as they cannot be sensed, killed, or digested by phages or other organisms. Crucially, many immune responses in humans, other animals and plants also function by sensing and reacting to chiral bacterial molecules. If a person is infected with mirror-image bacteria, their immune system may be compromised because their immune system will have great difficulty detecting or killing mirror-image cells. Therefore, it is hypothesized that mirror-image bacteria can replicate to extremely high levels in the human body, causing a condition similar to septic shock.

The disadvantage of having biological properties that make mirror-image bacteria “invisible” to predators is that they are unable to consume many of the chiral nutrients found in nature. However, some nutrients, such as glycerol, are achiral (they do not have a mirror image form) and therefore can be consumed by mirror image bacteria. Well-intentioned scientists could also engineer mirror-image bacteria that consume naturally occurring chiral molecules such as sugars and amino acids.

In turn, mirror-image bacteria can spread throughout an environment in the absence of natural predators, infect organisms without triggering a massive immune response in the organism, and can cause fatal infections. Bacteria-free, unstoppable replicating mirror in environment could cause consequences That’s disastrous.¹⁶

The exception, not the rule

We are passionate about all that synthetic biology has to offer. We are all concerned about the dangers of limiting science because it goes against political interests, because it is seen as unhelpful, or because it is simply misunderstood. Liberal science is generally better for the world.

However, there are some important exceptions. We limit research involving live variola virus, Dangerous human psychology experimentsand Nuclear explosion testing in the environment Because it’s too dangerous. We believe that creating mirror life falls into the same category of research, but would be too risky to pursue.^17-19th

However, we believe that mirror biology regulations should not affect the vast majority of synthetic biology research in the medical or pharmaceutical industries. Few laboratories are interested in creating mirror life, and it’s unclear whether the development of mirror life would bring unique benefits that we can’t achieve any other way. For example, we note that mirror-image molecules offer hope for drugs because they can avoid detection by the body. but many of them mirror protein, mirror carbsand other small mirror molecules have been created in a safe manner and have not been used to create mirror life.^20,21 While steps should be taken to ensure that large mirror-image molecules (such as mirror-image genomes) are not created to develop mirror-image life, research on small mirror-image molecules should continue freely.

Ultimately, the best way to ensure that synthetic biologists continue to make breakthroughs is to ensure that we do not jeopardize global security, undermine public trust, or cause science to do great harm. Curiosity is not a good reason to create something so dangerous. For the sake of humanity and science itself, we must avoid creating mirror life.