Some researchers are discussing the idea of building organisms from molecules with reversed structures. An interdisciplinary group says potential consequences include untreatable infections and irreversible ecosystem disruption.
  • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    6 hours ago

    There is no guarantee that we’ll have immunity to such things. There’s no guarantee that they won’t eat up everything in the ecosystem.

    Given that all the sugars that currently exist in the ecosystem would be the wrong enantiomer for them to eat, I think we can be reasonably confident that they won’t eat up everything.

    Both forms of life (or proto-life) must have existed in the early days of the Earth, and eventually one chirality won out. If we create ‘mirror life’ today, it would be the same as existing life, just severely maladapted to its environment.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    12 hours ago

    Yes, it’s a stupid idea with almost zero practical applications at the moment. Doing it “just to see if we can” with all the dangers being raised and shouted about it is just absolutely stupid.

    Unless, y’know…maybe someone is a in a hurry to get a shortcut to engineered life they can enslave.

    • gibmiser@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      11 hours ago

      Hey man, robots are great and all, but how do I know it’s truly my slave unless it is capable of suffering?