Researchers are embarking on a project that is as daring as it is risky: creating forms of life that are entirely reversed from those that exist on Earth. These organisms, called “mirror bacteria”, also raise serious concerns.
The idea behind these bacteria is based on a chemical concept called “chirality,” where certain molecules can exist in two forms, one being the mirror image of the other. If life as we know it is built around “right-handed” molecules, researchers are trying to create inverted, “left-handed” shapes. But this quest raises a debate major ethics.
Mirror bacteria, although potentially useful for medicine and industry, pose a major risk: they could escape the immune system human and that of other living beings. Indeed, natural defenses would not be able to recognize them as pathogens, which could lead to uncontrollable infections. Scientists have recently warned of the dangers of this research. A group of experts, including several Nobel Prize winners, published a report that highlights the unpredictable risks of these synthetic organisms. For them, creating mirror bacteria could trigger pandemics that are impossible to control.
However, the potential applications of these organisms are promising. By creating mirror molecules, scientists hope to design new drugs resistant to natural degradation or even other more effective industrial products.
One of the major concerns is that these bacteria, being invisible to our defense systems, could spread without any natural barrier. This situation would be all the more problematic if these microbes were to adapt to the surrounding conditions, thus escaping attempts at containment.
Another worrying aspect lies in the difficulty of controlling these organisms once created. The absence of natural predators could allow them to multiply on a large scale, with serious environmental and health consequences. Experts agree that it is urgent to think about regulations before these bacteria become a reality.
The researchers, while remaining aware of the theoretical advantages of mirror bacteria, are calling for a suspension of research. According to the report, if these organisms escaped from laboratories, their destructive potential would far exceed their beneficial applications. The time has come for a broad discussion about these risks.
The question remains: should scientific advances, however promising they may be, be hampered by the uncertainties they generate? The debate over the creation of mirror life is only just beginning, and it may well redefine how science approaches ethics and safety.
What are mirror bacteria and why do they pose a danger?
Mirror bacteria are organisms created from inverted chiral molecules compared to those found in nature. In biologychirality designates theasymmetry molecular, similar to the difference between the left and right hand. The DNA of living organisms is thus made up of nucleotides that we describe as “right-handed”. At theinverseproteins are made up of “left-handed” amino acids. Scientists attempt to reproduce biological structures where amino acids and other molecules are arranged in an inverted configuration.
These creations, although scientifically promising, raise significant concerns. Mirror bacteria, due to their different chemical composition, are believed to evade the natural immune systems of humans, animals and plants. They may also be invulnerable to common microbial predators, such as viruses and protists. This would make them difficult to control and potentially dangerous for theenvironment.
Researchers believe that although the creation of a mirror bacteria is not yet within reach, rapid advances in biotechnology make this possibility likely in the near future. Concern is growing as this research progresses, and several scientists are calling for a pause in the work, emphasizing the high risks of such innovation.
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