Policy Forum: Considering risks of “mirror life” before it is created
Summary author: Meagan Phelan
In a Policy Forum, scientists discuss lifeforms composed of mirror-image biological molecules – also known as “mirror life” – and say creation of such lifeforms, which could evade immune mechanisms and predators, warrants careful consideration. The hallmark of mirror organisms is reversed chirality – a feature that would render them resistant to normal forms of biological degradation, making them useful for applications like long-lasting therapies. While these organisms haven’t yet been observed in nature, and the capability to create them is likely at least a decade away, requiring large investments and major technical advances, now is the moment, say the authors, to consider and preempt risks. The authors – an interdisciplinary researcher group, including researchers who have held the creation of mirror life as a long-term aspirational goal – call for broader discussion amongst the global research community, policymakers, research funders, industry, civil society, and the public, to chart an appropriate path forward. The detailed analysis on mirror life they present is perhaps the most comprehensive assessment to date. It qualitatively assesses the feasibility and risks of creating mirror bacteria, considering factors including the nature, magnitude, and likelihood of potential harms, the ease of accidental or deliberate misuse, and the effectiveness of potential countermeasures. The authors focus on mirror bacteria in this analysis but note that many of the considerations might also apply to other forms of mirror life. Among concerns, the authors say their analysis suggests that mirror bacteria would likely evade many immune mechanisms, potentially causing lethal infection in humans, animals, and plants. Such bacteria are likely to evade predation from phages and many other predators, facilitating spread in the environment. The authors explain that though they were initially skeptical that mirror bacteria could pose such major risks, they have since become deeply concerned. They call for additional scrutiny of their findings and further research to improve understanding of these risks. However, they note, in the absence of compelling evidence for reassurance, their view is that mirror bacteria and other mirror organisms should not be created. They believe that this can be ensured with minimal impact on beneficial research.
The findings of these researchers – summarized in the Policy Forum – are available in more detailed form in a separate, in-depth technical report that can be accessed at a link in the related press release.
Journal
Science
Article Title
Confronting the risks of mirror life
Article Publication Date
12-Dec-2024
Researchers call for global discussion about possible risks from “mirror bacteria”
Milltown Partners
A group of researchers has published new findings in Science on potential risks from the development of mirror bacteria — synthetic organisms in which all molecules have reversed chirality (i.e. are ‘mirrored’).
Scientists had begun early work toward creating mirror bacteria, and while the capability is at least a decade away, recent years have seen significant progress. The new paper finds that, if created, these organisms may pose significant dangers to human, animal, plant, and environmental health. The authors call for a broad conversation among scientists, policymakers, and a wide range of other stakeholders to chart a path towards better understanding and mitigation of potential risks from mirror bacteria.
The 38 authors working in nine countries include leading experts in immunology, plant pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, biosecurity, and planetary sciences. The publication in Science is accompanied by a detailed 300-page technical report.
While any threat is not imminent, the Science paper finds that mirror bacteria may pose serious risks. Immune defenses in humans, animals, and plants rely on recognizing specific molecular shapes found in invading bacteria. If these shapes were reflected — as they would be in mirror bacteria — recognition would be impaired and many basic immune defenses could fail, potentially leaving organisms vulnerable to infection.
The analysis also suggests that mirror bacteria in the environment may be able to evade natural predators like phages and protists, which rely heavily on chirally-mediated interactions to kill bacteria and limit their populations. Transport via animals and humans could enable spread between diverse ecosystems. Persistent and widespread environmental populations of mirror bacteria would expose humans, animals and plants to an ongoing risk of infection — a serious threat to humans and to global ecosystems.
The authors call for further scrutiny of their findings and conclude that, unless compelling evidence emerges that these organisms would not pose extraordinary dangers, mirror bacteria should not be created. Notably, the group includes several authors who previously held the creation of mirror bacteria as a long-term aspirational goal.
This paper marks a starting point for a broader discussion about the risks from mirror bacteria, including participation from the global scientific community, policymakers, research funders, and other stakeholders. Several of the authors on the paper are involved in planning a series of events throughout 2025, including events planned at the Institut Pasteur in France, the University of Manchester in the U.K. and the National University of Singapore, to scrutinize the findings of the paper and discuss steps that can be taken to prevent risks from mirror bacteria.
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For all press inquiries, including requests to speak with authors, please email press@mbdialogues.org. To view any additional press materials as they become available, see this folder.
Journal
Science
Article Title
Confronting risks of mirror life
Article Publication Date
12-Dec-2024
Annual HFSP Science Digest highlights basic science, includes special focus on synthetic biology and innovation
Human Frontier Science Program
image:
HFSP Science Digest new edition features Synthetic Biology, Innovation and the Origin of Life.
view moreCredit: HFSP
STRASBOURG, France, 10 December 2024 – The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), global leader in pioneering frontier life science research has released its annual Science Digest.
The 60-page volume details extraordinary findings from HFSP-supported research; high-profile scientific papers that have resulted from these breakthrough discoveries; and newly awarded HFSP Research Grants and Fellowships. In total, this year’s Science Digest represents more than 43 projects, involving 55 international scientists from more than 26 countries.
“This year’s Science Digest presents breakthrough discoveries that are pushing the very boundaries of frontier research in the life sciences to new heights,” said Pavel Kabat, HFSPO Secretary-General.
This year, the HFSP Science Digest features a special section on investigations in synthetic biology and the origin of life that are generating remarkable new insight that will reshape our understanding of key biological assumptions.
“Further, I am proud to say that this edition of the Science Digest showcases the vital role that basic, frontier life science research plays in generating valuable innovations that are important to the scientific enterprise and to our innovation economy,” said Kabat. “Basic research provides the vital foundation for human society by exploring whole new fields and disciplines from which innovative medical treatments, medications, and engineered solutions can emerge."
The Science Digest is divided into three sections, Section 1 focuses on outstanding HFSP Research Grant and Fellowship projects that were completed in 2023. Section 2 includes a topical overview on exciting research in a broad area, and this year, that focus is on synthetic biology and origin of life research. Section 3 presents a select array of HFSP-supported research that has yielded impressive innovations – demonstrating once again the vital link between basic research that seeks to reveal new discoveries and the emergent knowledge that spins off valuable innovations.
HFSP Research Grants prioritize international collaboration, particularly those projects that propose investigations involving researchers from more than two countries. About two-thirds of HFSP-funded projects involve teams in three or more countries, and almost all involve intercontinental collaboration. In this regard, HFSP creates networks that transcend national and disciplinary borders and establishes opportunities that go far beyond what would be possible through classical, bilateral collaborations.
HFSP postdoctoral opportunities, both Long-Term Fellowships and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships, enable early career scientists to move to a new country and experience new research environments and fields. Specific effort is made to encourage and support early career scientists from disciplines outside the life sciences to embark on a career path in the life sciences through cross-disciplinary research. This is yet another way HFSP is opening new horizons and exploring new frontiers.
Indeed, HFSP provides a unique forum for scientists to enter international collaborations in life science research, and at times in their careers, that go beyond what most science funding mechanisms support.
Access the new HFSP Science Digest. Hard copies can be requested at communications@hfsp.org.
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HFSPO was established by the G7 countries at the initiative of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan at the 1987 Venice Summit. Open to scientists of every nation, HFSPO is supported by 17 Members, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Commission. The mission of HFSPO is to foster bold, basic, frontier research in the life sciences and interdisciplinary collaborations around the world. Since 1990, more than 8,500 researchers from more than 70 countries have been supported. Of these, 31 HFSP awardees have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
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