In December 2024, a group of 38 scientists came together to warn the rest of mankind about a seemingly-innocent but deadly threat… mirror life. Born from the fundamental asymmetry that underpins many molecules on Earth, mirror life is a rapidly-developing area of research that scientists say we must put a stop to now – or suffer the consequences. But what actually is mirror life? Why has this gotten the science community so worried? And what would really happen if we crossed this biological milestone?
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References:
“Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks”, via stanford.edu https://bit.ly/mirrorlifereport
“‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research”, via theguardian.com https://bit.ly/haltmirrorresearch
“‘Mirror life forms’ may sound like science fiction, but scientists warn they could be deadly to humans and destroy the environment”, via theconversation.com https://bit.ly/mirrorlifeforms
“Mirror-image T7 transcription of chirally inverted ribosomal and functional RNAs”, via science.org https://bit.ly/xu_zhu
“Reprogramming the genetic code”, via nature.com https://bit.ly/delatorre_chin
“Thalidomide and the Importance of Stereochemistry”, via oregonstate.edu https://bit.ly/thalidomidedrug
“Invasive Alien Species”, via iucn.org https://bit.ly/invasivealienspecies
“What is Xenobiology?”, via thenakedscientists.com https://bit.ly/xenobiology
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Credits
Narrator: James Stewart
Producer: Alex McColgan
Writer: Edie Abrahams
Video Editor: Celal Kaçar
Researcher: Edie Abrahams
Thumbnail Designer: Peter Sheppard
Senior Production Coordinator: Jana Pšenková
Channel Manager: Georgina Brenner
Creator: Alex McColgan
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