Mirror life is a hypothetical concept, but one which is considered an “unprecedented risk” (Adamala et al. 2024a) to humanity. Mirror life refers to self-replicating organisms (like bacteria) which are composed of building blocks that have the opposite three-dimensional orientation to their natural counterparts. One significant threat from this kind of organism is that mirror bacteria would not be recognised by the immune system, and therefore, infected hosts may not be able to adequately trigger their immune systems to fight it. If our current medical countermeasures are not effective against mirror life, it may be that we cannot treat mirror infections.
The Centre for Long-Term Resilience, along with a host of experts from the Paris Conference on Risks from Mirror Life have concluded that research directly leading to the creation of mirror life should not be carried out. Many other expert groups have supported this message, including those at the Spirit of Asilomar conference and the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee. Despite this, there have been claims that the creation of mirror life could be mitigated by existing countermeasures, such as antibiotics.
To investigate the veracity of this claim, CLTR’s Biosecurity Policy Manager Dr Paul-Enguerrand Fady and external contractor Dr JL Ciccone contributed to a small but growing field of research investigating whether antibiotics would work against mirror life targets. Our investigations used molecular dynamics, a popular and well-accepted computational method for investigating the interactions between biomolecules and molecules which can bind to them, to observe whether antibiotics would bind to mirror protein targets. Failure to bind would imply a lack of efficacy against future potential mirror bacteria.
Our results suggest that, of the existing antibiotic countermeasures we tested, none were effective against their mirror targets. This implies that these antibiotics would be unable to kill mirror bacteria or stop their growth.
Furthermore, we note that even if an effective antibiotic were to be found, deployment would be nearly impossible given the practicalities of manufacturing and disseminating antibiotics to all relevant environmental niches (as mirror bacteria could infect not only humans but animals, plants, and marine plankton).
Blue = natural protein, Red = mirror protein
What steps the UK Government should take
There is a growing, clear consensus in the scientific community for a ban on research that directly leads to the creation of mirror life. However, this is distinct from safe research that may involve mirror components. We believe that much excellent research and innovation will come from research that leverages certain mirror biomolecule components, supporting economic growth, saving lives, and creating novel solutions to technological problems. A clear delineation is needed between safe and unprecedentedly risky research.
The UK Government should be bold: research which directly leads to the creation of mirror life is dangerous, and it should not be supported or funded by the UK Government (directly or indirectly), and should be banned from taking place in the UK.
You can find a detailed report on our research by clicking ‘DOWNLOAD’ below.
A more detailed description of our results, including a comprehensive methodology and all supporting data, will be provided in an upcoming manuscript intended for peer review and publication in an academic journal.
For more information on this research, please contact paul-enguerrand@longtermresilience.org
Suggested citation: Fady, Paul-Enguerrand and JL Ciccone (2025). Simulations suggest that antibiotics would not work on mirror bacterial targets. The Centre for Long-Term Resilience. doi.org/10.71172/8p4k-sqwm
