A 2024 Nature paper by Nobel‑winning biologists warned that lab‑built organisms using opposite‑handed molecules ('mirror life') could evade immune defenses and upend ecosystems. OSIRIS‑REx samples from asteroid Bennu show mirror‑handed building blocks exist in space, but natural sources are harmless—the risk is deliberate lab synthesis. The article situates this warning within the history of recurring scientific apocalypse fears.
— It flags a new class of biosafety hazard that current oversight may not anticipate, shaping debates over moratoria, lab standards, and research governance.
Molly Glick
2025.09.18
86% relevant
The article explains chirality and the prospect of engineering mirror‑handed biomolecules/cells, and notes scientists met at the Engineering and Safeguarding Synthetic Life 2025 conference to consider risks—directly echoing concerns that mirror‑life organisms could evade immune defenses and disrupt ecosystems.
Thomas Moynihan
2025.09.15
100% relevant
Nature warning by Nobel laureates about 'mirror life' and the Bennu chiral findings cited in the article.
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