Future Tense The potential benefits and risks of developing "mirror life"
Jul 3, 2025
In this discussion, Andrew Ellington, a synthetic biology professor from the University of Texas, and Kate Adamala from the University of Minnesota dive into the intriguing concept of mirror life. They explore innovative research on creating living cells from mirror image molecules that could revolutionize medicine. However, they raise critical concerns about ethical implications and potential catastrophic risks if these cells are uncontrolled. The conversation highlights the necessity for public dialogue and careful governance in advancing this groundbreaking research.
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Augmenting Life’s Chemistry
- Life on Earth uses just four nucleotide building blocks and 20 amino acids, but this natural chemistry can be augmented.
- Augmenting life’s chemistry could revolutionize biotechnology with better, faster, and novel proteins.
Understanding Mirror Molecules
- Mirror molecules are exact mirror images of natural biomolecules, like left and right hands.
- Mirror enzymes interact with substrates identically to natural enzymes, suggesting the possibility of entire mirror cells.
Mirror Molecules Resist Attack
- Mirror molecules behave the same as natural ones but resist attack by immune systems and predators.
- Mirror cells could be invisible to immune responses and resistant to environmental viruses.