{"id":136411,"date":"2024-12-13T03:05:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136411"},"modified":"2024-12-13T03:05:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:05:07","slug":"unprecedented-risk-to-life-on-earth-scientists-call-for-halt-on-mirror-life-microbe-research-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136411","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unprecedented risk\u2019 to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on \u2018mirror life\u2019 microbe research | Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">World-leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create \u201cmirror life\u201d microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an \u201cunprecedented risk\u201d to life on Earth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The international group of Nobel laureates and other experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could become established in the environment and slip past the immune defences of natural organisms, putting humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Although a viable mirror microbe would probably take at least a decade to build, a new risk assessment raised such serious concerns about the organisms that the 38-strong group urged scientists to stop work towards the goal and asked funders to make clear they will no longer support the research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThe threat we\u2019re talking about is unprecedented,\u201d said Prof Vaughn Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Pittsburgh. \u201cMirror bacteria would likely evade many human, animal and plant immune system responses and in each case would cause lethal infections that would spread without check.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The expert group includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2010\/may\/20\/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Dr Craig Venter<\/a>, the US scientist who led the private effort to sequence the human genome in the 1990s, and the Nobel laureates Prof Greg Winter at the University of Cambridge and Prof Jack Szostak at the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Many molecules for life can exist in two distinct forms, each the mirror image of the other. The DNA of all living organisms is made from \u201cright-handed\u201d nucleotides, while proteins, the building blocks of cells, are made from \u201cleft-handed\u201d amino acids. Why nature works this way is unclear: life could have chosen left-handed DNA and right-handed proteins instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Scientists have already manufactured large, functional mirror molecules to study them more closely. Some have even taken baby steps towards building mirror microbes, though constructing a whole organism from mirror molecules is beyond today\u2019s know-how.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The work is driven by fascination and potential applications. Mirror molecules could be turned into therapies for chronic and hard-to-treat diseases, while mirror microbes could make bioproduction facilities, which use bugs to churn out chemicals, more resistant to contamination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The fresh concerns over the technology are revealed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/purl.stanford.edu\/cv716pj4036\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">299-page report<\/a> and a commentary in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.ads9158\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the journal Science<\/a>. While enthusiastic about research on mirror molecules, the report sees substantial risks in mirror microbes and calls for a global debate on the work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Beyond causing lethal infections, the researchers doubt the microbes could be safely contained or kept in check by natural competitors and predators. Existing antibiotics are unlikely to be effective, either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cUnless compelling evidence emerges that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, we believe that mirror bacteria and other mirror organisms, even those with engineered biocontainment measures, should not be created,\u201d the authors write in Science.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWe therefore recommend that research with the goal of creating mirror bacteria not be permitted, and that funders make clear that they will not support such work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Dr Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist at the University of Minnesota and co-author on the report, was working towards a mirror cell but changed tack last year after studying the risks in detail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWe should not be making mirror life,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have time for the conversation. And that\u2019s what we were trying to do with this paper, to start a global conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Prof Paul Freemont at Imperial College London, who was not involved in the report, called it an \u201cexcellent example of responsible research and innovation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cWhilst the authors clearly point out the need for an open and transparent debate on the development of mirrored living organisms, there is also a need to identify the promise and positive uses of mirror chemistry in biological systems, albeit in a limited and perhaps future regulated manner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2024\/dec\/12\/unprecedented-risk-to-life-on-earth-scientists-call-for-halt-on-mirror-life-microbe-research\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World-leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create \u201cmirror life\u201d microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an \u201cunprecedented risk\u201d to life on Earth. The &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136411\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}