Mirror Life
"On reading," by Simon Wain-Hobson, is a weekly discussion of scientific papers and news articles around gain of function research in virology.
Since January 2024, Dr. Wain-Hobson has written weekly essays for Biosafety Now discussing risky research in virology. You can read his entire series here.
Some molecules can have the same number of atoms and the same type of connections between them called bonds, chemical bonds, but nonetheless have different properties. Louis Pasteur was the first to realize something was up in 1848 when studying crystals of wine tartar, potassium tartrate, under the microscope. He found there were two distinct shapes of crystal that were mirror images of each other, much like left and right hands are mirror images of each other, that is if you forget the freckles and warts. The molecular phenomenon ultimately was described as chirality which is derived from the Greek word for hand.
Proteins are long strings of building blocks called amino acids that are everywhere in life. With one exception these amino acids are chiral molecules and can take up left- (L) of right- (D) handed molecular shapes. That said, only the left-handed form is found in proteins and this because the machinery for making proteins only accepts left-handed amino acids.
Why this is so remains a much discussed mystery although chemists have made protein-like molecules out of right-handed D-amino acids. The fascination with molecular chirality has led to a push for making mirror nucleic acids and ultimately life forms, notably a mirror bacterium.
Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration. The capability to create mirror life is likely at least a decade away and would require large investments and major technical advances; we thus have an opportunity to consider and preempt risks before they are realized.
The authors are a group of top researchers who have been discussing this for a while and base their conclusions on a 240 page document entitled Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks. So serious folk some of whom have written papers at the very top of On reading’s list of highs.
So what do they think? Our analysis suggests that mirror bacteria would likely evade many immune mechanisms mediated by chiral molecules, potentially causing lethal infection in humans, animals, and plants. They are likely to evade predation from natural-chirality phage and many other predators, facilitating spread in the environment.
And if that wasn’t clear enough, they draw the obvious corollary: in the absence of compelling evidence for reassurance, our view is that mirror bacteria and other mirror organisms should not be created.
And then make an appeal: We believe that this can be ensured with minimal impact on beneficial research and call for broad engagement to determine a path forward. Repeatedly: we invite the global research community, policy-makers, research funders, industry, civil society, and the public to join this discussion.
It’s a fascinating read, not too long, so do take time out.
The contrasts with the GOF/DURC bird flu controversy couldn’t be greater and need enumerating and examining.
• Their concern, a mirror bacterium may be a decade away and yet they’re addressing the problem now. The bird flu controversy blew up once it became known that two groups had made airborne transmissible viruses in ferret models and had submitted scientific manuscripts for publication. Proactiveness versus a fait accompli.
• They provide a dense technical document to show how they arrived at their conclusions. After the anthrax attacks on the Capitol in 2001 a commission was put together and came out with a detailed report concerning the risks associated with research into microorganisms. The so-called Fink report listed experiments that should be talked up. The resurrection of extinct Spanish flu virus and the genesis of novel human flu viruses saw the light of day even though they were on the list of Fink report experiments needing discussion. Both were supposed to ‘help’ in making vaccines but that was mere wordsmithing (1918 and all that, Deconstructing the portrait).
• The authors call for open discussion between the global research community, policy-makers, research funders, industry, civil society, and the public. When the proponents of making novel flu viruses discussed their work it was to say why it should be continued. In the essay Chilled virology we read how the NIH top brass struggled to make a good case. Nevertheless, the work proceeded even though, thirteen years on, no benefits have emerged.
Why the disconnect? Why the disregard for the Fink report? A clue is in the third bullet point. When three scientists at the pinnacle of the NIH wrote an OpEd in the Washington Post in December 2011 supporting the adaptation of bird flu virus to humans before most people had heard about the work, what do you think any US virologist, most probably supported by an NIH grant, would do? We know the answer, the vast majority said nothing.
And elsewhere? Many a virologist in Europe has a NIH backed collaborator or friend. A de facto pax-NIH stifled most discussion worldwide. As mentioned above science administrators are enablers, they don’t make science. It is not for them to preempt scientists and scientific conclusions.
To date there has not been a Washington Post OpEd from any USG agency supporting mirror life research so in that sense the coast is clear. The article in Science is courageous as some of the authors have undertaken clever work on mirror life so they are acting responsibly.
The reader might ask why didn’t any of these authors speak up in the GOF/DURC controversy? One, they did on mirror life. They could easily have continued their research and waited until it became a fait accompli. As did the virologists. Second, most scientists prefer to argue from known turf. While a virologist, On reading realizes the complexity and subtleties of bacteriology and would think twice about spouting forth on bacteria without a lot of homework which takes time away from… virology.
If scientists in their field are encouraged to speak out about the risks associated with research in their field, not necessarily their own work, we’d be much better off. Especially given that the line between research and DURC is thin to fuzzy to inexistant for some biosecurity buffs (Virus Research of Concern).
Meanwhile, GOF/DURC virology is going nowhere, it’s too hot a potato after COVID and the unknowns surrounding the origin of the pandemic virus. Nonetheless, we still have stocks of Spanish flu and ‘humanized’ bird flu viruses in freezers, some of which are very lethal in ferrets (Spanish lookalikes, 1918 and all that). Their genetic blueprints are on the cloud and have been downloaded many times so they cannot be erased. The stocks of these viruses could be destroyed in line with calls for rinderpest and polioviruses (Rinderpest). That’s a very low bar and yet nobody has yet bothered to step over it.
Change is needed. Who will make the first move? Maybe the specter of mirror life will prompt a proper reflection on dangerous virology and the recipes on the cloud. That would be most welcome especially as the issue is more than 20 years ahead of mirror life.
A reminder for those who may have forgotten or do not know: one humanized flu virus killed 60% of infected ferrets by the airborne route. Utter madness, yet only one dog howled. Any reader can do a back of an envelope calculation and realize that this is around 60-100x more deadly than the COVID virus. Repeat, utter madness. Virology deserves way more given that it is the queen of the biological sciences (The Queen).
Aside 1
Crystals of wine tartar form when tartaric acid binds with potassium under cold conditions. Today tartrates are used as an acidulant in drinks and foods while cream of tartar is used in baking. Here their handedness or chirality has no effect on their uses.
Aside 2
D and L come from the Latin words dextro and laevo for on the right and on the left. Sugars and nucleic acids are made up of chiral building blocks. More on mirror life can be found on the Wikipedia page.
How naive to believe that GOF is going “nowhere”…
…clandestine CIA labs around the World will continue unabated, I fear!