{"id":137849,"date":"2024-12-17T00:38:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137849"},"modified":"2024-12-17T00:38:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:38:28","slug":"mirror-bacteria-may-constitute-radical-departure-from-known-life-scientists-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137849","title":{"rendered":"Mirror bacteria may constitute \u2018radical departure from known life,\u2019 scientists warn"},"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 data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/editor-note\/instances\/cm4r7amb2000f356ms1gc2r9a@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"editor-note\" class=\"editor-note vossi-editor-note inline-placeholder \" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n    <em>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters\/wonder-theory?source=nl-acq_article\"><em>Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more<\/em><\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n    <cite class=\"source__cite\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__location\" data-editable=\"location\"\/><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__text\" data-editable=\"source\">CNN<\/span><br \/>\n        \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<br \/>\n    <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r79kwn0000356mxzoduqr9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A group of 38 scientists working in nine countries has sounded an alarm about the potential creation of mirror bacteria \u2014 synthetic organisms in which the molecular structure found in nature is reversed and could put humans, animals and plants at risk of exposure to dangerous pathogens.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o0006356m28wuo1sy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            While the science and technology necessary to create mirror bacteria in a laboratory is a decade or more away, the scientists argued that the possibly lethal risks posed by this new field of research are \u201cunprecedented\u201d and \u201coverlooked.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o0007356mxmtpfckn@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cDriven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating lifeforms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules,\u201d the researchers wrote in a report published in the December 12 edition of the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.ads9158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o0008356m9v7jzxzf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cSuch mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o0009356mmr5ksm21@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A fundamental feature of all known life is a uniform chirality, or handedness. For example, DNA and RNA are made from \u201cright-handed\u201d nucleotides, and proteins are made from \u201cleft-handed\u201d amino acids. Just as a right-handed glove cannot fit a left hand, interactions between molecules often depend on chirality.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o000a356m7i8cr3ze@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            While the authors, who included experts in immunology, plant pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, biosecurity and planetary sciences, had initially been skeptical that mirror bacteria could pose major risks, the experts said they had now become \u201cdeeply concerned.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o000b356masd0zigq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s a genie you don\u2019t want to let out of the bottle,\u201d said report coauthor Jonathan Jones, a group leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, United Kingdom.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o000c356mme8i8qyz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe risk of something bad happening is low, but the consequences of something bad happening are really awful,\u201d he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7aj1o000d356m8obyvxmb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Unless compelling evidence were to emerge that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, research with the goal of creating mirror bacteria should not be permitted, and funders should make clear that they will not support such work, the scientists recommended.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000h356mxf2jhjzr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The authors based the Science paper on a 300-page <a href=\"https:\/\/purl.stanford.edu\/cv716pj4036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technical report<\/a> released by the genomics research nonprofit J. Craig Venter Institute that detailed the feasibility and risks of mirror bacteria.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000i356mtr0214hr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The report said that creating mirror life was a longer-term aspiration of multiple laboratories and major funders of research as part of efforts to better understand life and potentially aid in the development of drugs and other therapeutics.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000j356mtaewl1re@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Many synthetic biologists seek to understand how cells could be created from their constituent molecules with the aim of shedding light on how life first arose and understanding what other kinds of life might be possible. The report said that if a cell with natural chirality can be created from lifeless molecules, then, in theory, a mirror-image cell could be created from mirror-image molecules using the same methods.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000k356mzxiu1mn0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            No imminent threat exists, the report stressed, and there are currently sizable technical hurdles to creating mirror bacteria. Doing so within a decade would require substantial, coordinated efforts similar in scale and budget to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/31\/health\/first-complete-human-genome-sequence\/index.html\">Human Genome Project<\/a>, which mapped 92% of the human genome over the span of 12 \u00bd years.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000m356mjcbdadaq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Immune systems rely on recognizing specific molecular shapes found in invading bacteria. If these shapes were reflected \u2014 as they would be in mirror bacteria \u2014 recognition would be impaired and immune defenses could fail, potentially leaving organisms vulnerable to infection.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000n356md8mbkm8e@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe cannot rule out a scenario in which a mirror bacterium acts as an invasive species across many ecosystems, causing pervasive lethal infections in a substantial fraction of plant and animal species, including humans,\u201d the scientists argued in the Science report.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000o356mm4invax7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cEven a mirror bacterium with a narrower host range and the ability to invade only a limited set of ecosystems could still cause unprecedented and irreversible harm.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000p356m5nh9s8rs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Transmission via animals and humans could enable the spread of such bacteria into different ecosystems. Jones, an expert in plant immune systems, said that mirror bacteria would be extremely difficult to detect in plants.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000q356my9kdjj1o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cEven if it didn\u2019t grow very well initially, mutations would kick in and there\u2019d be selection for something that grew better. That\u2019s the way evolution works,\u201d Jones explained.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000r356m0pdid043@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Tom Ellis, a professor of synthetic genome engineering at Imperial College\u2019s Centre for Synthetic Biology and department of bioengineering, said that mirror life was still very much science fiction rather than science fact.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000s356mcrlzmtdg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cBroadly I agree with the concerns, although they are very speculative considering research is currently at a very early stage and a long way from being any threat,\u201d said Ellis, who wasn\u2019t involved in the research.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000t356meio9no2s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Scientists had been trying to create synthetic life using non-mirror molecules for more than a decade, Ellis said, but they were still a \u201clong way\u201d from having self-sustaining cells that can divide, replicate and evolve.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4r7d9kp000u356m3uoxe92s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThis \u2018synthetic cell\u2019 work is challenging enough already when (scientists) use normal molecules, enzymes and chemicals. When they have to do all that but only with mirror molecules, that all need to be made and invented, then it makes it \u2026 1000x harder,\u201d he said via email.\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/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.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/16\/science\/mirror-bacteria-research-risks\/index.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 A group of 38 scientists working in nine countries &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137849\" 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-137849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137849","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=137849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}