{{short description|Hypothetical life with reversed molecular chirality}} {{pp-sock|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates |date=December 2024}} '''Mirror-image life''' (also called '''mirror life''') is a hypothetical form of life using mirror-reflected molecular building blocks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singer |first1=Emily |title=New twist found in the story of life's start |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/chiral-key-found-to-origin-of-life-20141126 |access-date=8 May 2018 |work=Quanta Magazine |date=26 November 2014}}</ref>
The successful creation of mirror-image life had previously been the goal of some scientists as a scientific achievement and a potential tool for biomanufacturing of mirror-image molecules.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sample |first=Ian |date=2024-12-12 |title='Unprecedented risk' to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on 'mirror life' microbe research |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/12/unprecedented-risk-to-life-on-earth-scientists-call-for-halt-on-mirror-life-microbe-research |access-date=2026-01-22 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In 2024, a team of 38 scientists, including two Nobel laureates and several researchers previously involved in developing mirror-image life, published a report suggesting that mirror-image life could pose catastrophic risks to health and the environment.{{r|adamala2024}} Unlike simple mirror-image molecules, mirror-image organisms such as bacteria could reproduce and might irreversibly spread through ecosystems. Such bacteria might be able to evade many components of immune systems, causing fatal infections in humans, animals, and plants. Some scientists, bioethicists, policymakers, and civil society groups have recommended that governance be established to ensure that mirror-image life is not created,<ref name="unsab2026">{{cite web |title=Mirror Life |url=https://www.un.org/scientific-advisory-board/en/mirror-life |publisher=United Nations Secretary-General's Scientific Advisory Board |date=2026 |series=Horizon Scanning 2026}}</ref><ref name="rice2025">{{cite report |title=The Spirit of Asilomar and the Future of Biotechnology summit |date=2025 |publisher=Rice University |chapter=4.4 Risks from Mirror Life |doi=10.25611/X89A-D947 |url=https://doi.org/10.25611/X89A-D947}}</ref><ref name="zenodo2025">{{cite report |author=Paris Conference on Risks from Mirror Life |date=2025 |title=Paris Conference on Risks from Mirror Life: Meeting Report |publisher=Zenodo |doi=10.5281/zenodo.17167205}}</ref><ref name="ukgov2025">{{cite web |title=Mirror life |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mirror-life/mirror-life |publisher=UK Government Office for Science |date=22 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="nticacda2026">{{cite web |title=CACDA-NTI Joint Statement on Shared Priorities for Strengthened Biosecurity and Responsible AI-Biotechnology Innovation |url=https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/cacda-nti-joint-statement-on-shared-priorities-for-strengthened-biosecurity-and-responsible-ai-biotechnology-innovation/ |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative |date=2026-02-18}}</ref><ref name="unesco2025">{{cite report |author=International Bioethics Committee |title=Report of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) on the ethical issues of synthetic biology: research, development and application |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000395064 |publisher=UNESCO |date=2025 |type=Programme and meeting document |id=SHS/IBC-32/2025/2 |pages=58 |access-date=2026-01-21}}</ref> and some funders have refused to support research with the goal of creating mirror-image life.<ref name="sloan2025">{{cite web |title=Matter-to-Life |url=https://sloan.org/programs/research/matter-to-life |publisher=Alfred P. Sloan Foundation}}</ref><ref name="renaissance2025">{{cite web |title=Why We Won't Fund Research Towards the Creation of Mirror Organisms |url=https://www.renaissancephilanthropy.org/news-and-insights/why-we-wont-fund-research-towards-the-creation-of-mirror-organisms |publisher=Renaissance Philanthropy |date=18 November 2025}}</ref> Discussions are ongoing about the risks of mirror life and appropriate governance.
Certain mirror-image components of molecular machinery have been synthesized in laboratories and efforts to chemically synthesize a mirror-image ribosome have been ongoing since 2016.{{r|mirror_components|polymerase}} Although entire mirror organisms could in principle be created,<ref name="Rohden2021">{{cite journal |last1=Rohden |first1=Fabian |last2=Hoheisel |first2=Jörg D. |last3=Wieden |first3=Hans-Joachim |date=November 2021 |title=Through the looking glass: milestones on the road towards mirroring life |journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=931–943 |doi=10.1016/j.tibs.2021.06.006 |issn=0968-0004 |pmid=34294544}}</ref><ref name="Harrison20232">{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=K. |last2=Mackay |first2=A. S. |last3=Kambanis |first3=L. |last4=Maxwell |first4=J. W. C. |last5=Payne |first5=R. J. |date=1 May 2023 |title=Synthesis and applications of mirror-image proteins |journal=Nature Reviews Chemistry |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=383–404 |doi=10.1038/s41570-023-00493-y |pmid=37173596}}</ref> some scientists estimate 10 to 30 years before the creation of mirror-image life is possible.<ref name="adamala2024">{{cite journal |last1=Adamala |first1=Katarzyna P. |last2=Agashe |first2=Deepa |last3=Belkaid |first3=Yasmine |last4=Bittencourt |first4=Daniela Matias de C. |last5=Cai |first5=Yizhi |last6=Chang |first6=Matthew W. |last7=Chen |first7=Irene A. |last8=Church |first8=George M. |last9=Cooper |first9=Vaughn S. |last10=Davis |first10=Mark M. |last11=Devaraj |first11=Neal K. |last12=Endy |first12=Drew |last13=Esvelt |first13=Kevin M. |last14=Glass |first14=John I. |last15=Hand |first15=Timothy W. |last16=Inglesby |first16=Thomas V. |last17=Isaacs |first17=Farren J. |last18=James |first18=Wilmot G. |last19=Jones |first19=Jonathan D. G. |last20=Kay |first20=Michael S. |last21=Lenski |first21=Richard E. |last22=Liu |first22=Chenli |last23=Medzhitov |first23=Ruslan |last24=Nicotra |first24=Matthew L. |last25=Oehm |first25=Sebastian B. |last26=Pannu |first26=Jaspreet |last27=Relman |first27=David A. |last28=Schwille |first28=Petra |last29=Smith |first29=James A. |last30=Suga |first30=Hiroaki |last31=Szostak |first31=Jack W. |last32=Talbot |first32=Nicholas J. |last33=Tiedje |first33=James M. |last34=Venter |first34=J. Craig |last35=Winter |first35=Gregory |last36=Zhang |first36=Weiwen |last37=Zhu |first37=Xinguang |last38=Zuber |first38=Maria T. |title=Confronting risks of mirror life |journal=Science |volume=386 |issue=6728 |pages=1351–1353 |date=12 December 2024 |doi=10.1126/science.ads9158 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9158}}</ref>
==Concept==
===Homochirality=== Many of the essential molecules for life on Earth can exist in two mirror-image forms, often called "left-handed" and "right-handed", but living organisms do not use both.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Building a parallel universe |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/building-a-parallel-universe |access-date=2023-10-27 |magazine=Wired UK |language=en-GB |issn=1357-0978}}</ref> (Handedness refers to the direction in which polarized light skews when beamed through a pure solution of the molecule.) RNA and DNA contain only right-handed sugars; proteins made by the ribosome{{efn|Many bacteria and fungi synthesise nonribosomal peptides containing right-handed amino acids, as the example of peptidoglycan synthesis shows.}} are exclusively composed of left-handed amino acids. This phenomenon is known as homochirality.<ref name="Plaxco">{{cite book |last1=Plaxco |first1=Kevin W. |title=Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction |last2=Michael |first2=Michael |date=2011 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1-4214-0194-2 |pages=140–141}}</ref> It is not known whether homochirality emerged before or after life, whether the building blocks of life must have this particular chirality, or indeed whether life needs to be homochiral.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sedbrook |first1=Danielle |date=28 July 2016 |title=Must the Molecules of Life Always be Left-Handed or Right-Handed? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/space/must-all-molecules-life-be-left-handed-or-right-handed-180959956/ |access-date=8 May 2018 |work=Smithsonian.com |language=en}}</ref> Protein chains built from amino acids of mixed chirality tend not to fold or function well, but mirror-image proteins have been constructed that have identical function but on substrates of opposite handedness.<ref name="Plaxco"/>
===Possibility of mirror-image life=== The possibility of mirror-image life has been discussed since Louis Pasteur's 1860 work on molecular asymmetry.<ref name="Pasteur1905">{{cite book |last=Pasteur |first=Louis |url=https://www.pasteurbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/Researches_on_the_Molecular_Asymmetry_of.pdf |title=Researches on the Molecular Asymmetry of Natural Organic Products |publisher=The Alembic Club |year=1905 |series=Alembic Club Reprints, No. 14 |location=Edinburgh |language=en |orig-year=1860}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Siegel |first=J.S. |date=1992-11-20 |title=Left-handed comments |journal=Science |volume=258 |issue=5086 |pages=1290 |bibcode=1992Sci...258.1289B |doi=10.1126/science.1455216 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=1455218}}</ref>
Advances in organic chemistry and synthetic biology may, in the future, lead to the possibility of fully synthesizing a living cell from small molecules, which could enable synthesizing mirror-image cells from mirrored versions (enantiomers) of life's building-block molecules. Some important proteins in the central dogma of molecular biology have been synthesized in mirror-image versions, including DNA polymerase in 2016 and RNA polymerase in 2022.{{r|polymerase}}
Reconstructing regular lifeforms in mirror-image form, using the mirror-image (chiral) reflection of their cellular components, could be achieved by substituting left-handed amino acids with right-handed ones, in order to create mirror reflections of proteins, and likewise substituting right-handed with left-handed nucleic acids.<ref name="wired">{{cite magazine |last=Bohannon |first=John |date=2010 |title=Mirror-image cells could transform science - or kill us all |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/11/ff_mirrorlife/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809194019/https://www.wired.com/2010/11/ff_mirrorlife/ |archive-date=2020-08-09 |magazine=Wired |volume=18 |issue=12}}</ref> Because the phospholipids of cell membranes are also chiral, American geneticist George Church proposed using an achiral fatty acid instead of mirror-image phospholipids for the membrane.<ref name="wired"/>{{efn|An achiral version of phospholipids is not strictly required, as both chiralities of phospholipids are already used in the cell membrane of existing life forms: eukaryotes and bacteria use one chirality (G3P) while archaea use the other (G1P). The two have even been mixed using genetic engineering, producing viable modified ''E. coli''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yokoi |first1=Takeru |last2=Isobe |first2=Keisuke |last3=Yoshimura |first3=Tohru |last4=Hemmi |first4=Hisashi |title=Archaeal Phospholipid Biosynthetic Pathway Reconstructed in Escherichia coli |journal=Archaea |date=2012 |volume=2012 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1155/2012/438931 |doi-access=free |pmid=22645416 |pmc=3357500}}</ref> Genetic evidence for a natural mixed-membrane system have also been found, pending definitive proof by chemical analysis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Villanueva |first1=Laura |last2=Bastiaan von Meijenfeldt |first2=F A |last3=Westbye |first3=Alexander B |last4=Yadav |first4=Subhash |last5=Hopmans |first5=Ellen C |last6=Dutilh |first6=Bas E |last7=Sinninghe Damsté |first7=Jaap S |title=Bridging the membrane lipid divide: bacteria of the FCB group superphylum have the potential to synthesize archaeal ether lipids |journal=The ISME Journal |date=1 January 2021 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=168–182 |doi=10.1038/s41396-020-00772-2 |doi-access=free |pmid=32929208 |pmc=7852524 |bibcode=2021ISMEJ..15..168V}}</ref>}}
Electromagnetism, the dominant interaction in chemistry, is unchanged under mirror-image transformation (P-symmetry). There is a small alteration of weak interactions under reflection, which can produce very small corrections that theoretically favor the natural enantiomers of amino acids and sugars,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tranter |first1=G.E. |date=January 1987 |title=Parity violation and the origins of biomolecular handedness |journal=Biosystems |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=37–48 |bibcode=1987BiSys..20...37T |doi=10.1016/0303-2647(87)90018-9 |pmid=3580532}}</ref> but it is unknown if this effect is large enough to affect the functionality of mirror-image biomolecules or explain homochirality in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quack |first1=Martin |last2=Seyfang |first2=Georg |last3=Wichmann |first3=Gunther |date=2022 |title=Perspectives on parity violation in chiral molecules: theory, spectroscopic experiment and biomolecular homochirality |journal=Chemical Science |volume=13 |issue=36 |pages=10598–10643 |doi=10.1039/d2sc01323a |hdl=20.500.11850/569820 |pmc=9491092 |pmid=36320700 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
==Potential risks== In December 2024, 38 scientists, including several synthetic biology researchers and two Nobel laureates, warned that the creation of mirror-image life could cause "unprecedented and irreversible harm" to human health and ecosystems worldwide.<ref name="adamala2024"/><ref name="zimmer2024">{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |date=12 December 2024 |title=A 'Second Tree of Life' Could Wreak Havoc, Scientists Warn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/science/a-second-tree-of-life-could-wreak-havoc-scientists-warn.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The reversed structure of mirror-image bacteria could allow them to evade many mechanisms critical for immunity and predation that have evolved to recognize natural-chirality structures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adamala |first=Katarzyna |last2=Agashe |first2=Deepa |last3=Binder |first3=Damon |last4=Cai |first4=Yizhi |last5=Cooper |first5=Vaughn |last6=Duncombe |first6=Ryan |last7=Esvelt |first7=Kevin |last8=Glass |first8=John |last9=Hand |first9=Timothy |last10=Inglesby |first10=Thomas |last11=Isaacs |first11=Farren |last12=Jones |first12=Jonathan |last13=Lenski |first13=Richard |last14=Lewis |first14=Gregory |last15=Medzhitov |first15=Ruslan |date=2024 |title=Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks |url=https://purl.stanford.edu/cv716pj4036 |journal=Stanford University |language=en |doi=10.25740/cv716pj4036}}</ref> As a result, mirror-image bacteria could potentially escape immune defenses and invade natural ecosystems, leading to "pervasive lethal infections in a substantial fraction of plant and animal species, including humans." Given these risks, the scientists concluded that mirror-image organisms should not be created without compelling evidence of safety.<ref name="adamala2024"/> Currently, no researchers are known to be pursuing the creation of mirror life; several who had been pursuing it have since renounced it and signed on as coauthors on the 2024 paper.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Adamala |first1=Kate |last2=Glass |first2=John |title=Mirror Bacteria Research Poses Significant Risks, Dozens of Scientists Warn |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/mirror-bacteria-research-poses-significant-risks-dozens-of-scientists-warn-72419 |website=The Scientist |access-date=22 January 2026}}</ref>
Since the publication of the 2024 paper, 96 biotechnology experts signed a statement agreeing with its conclusions,<ref name="rice2025"/> and attendees of the first international conference on mirror-image life largely agreed that it should not be created.<ref name="zenodo2025"/> Germany’s Central Commission for Biological Safety (ZKBS) issued a statement that while applied research on mirror biomolecules should continue, mirror bacteria could pose serious risks, and that "a broad scientific and societal debate" was necessary.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://zkbs-online.de/synthetische-biologie/spiegelbakterien |title=Spiegelbakterien |author=Zentrale Kommissionfür die Biologische Sicherheit |date=2025-09-22 |website=ZKBS |language=de |access-date=2026-01-22}}</ref> The UNESCO International Bioethics Committee recommended a precautionary global moratorium on the creation of mirror-image organisms,<ref name="unesco2025"/> and the UK Government Office for Science held an expert roundtable that recommended "prevent[ing] the development of replicating mirror organisms."<ref name="ukgov2025"/> Several philanthropic funders have also stated that they will not fund research with the goal of creating mirror-image organisms.<ref name="sloan2025"/><ref name="renaissance2025"/> In 2026, the UN Scientific Advisory Board called for "proactive multilateral action, such as a dedicated global forum, to define clear 'red lines', strengthen safety and monitoring practices, and establish responsible policy well before mirror life becomes feasible",<ref name="unsab2026" /> and Chinese and US policy research organizations issued a joint statement calling for "national and international frameworks to guard against the risks posed by mirror life, reaffirming the shared view that such organisms should never be created."<ref name="nticacda2026"/>
Some scientists and scholars have argued that concerns about mirror-image life are theoretical and/or that bans on research and funding bans are premature.<ref name="peplo2025">{{cite journal |last1=Peplow |first1=Mark |date=2025 |title=How should 'mirror life' research be restricted? Debate heats up |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02902-2 |journal=Nature |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-02902-2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250918095432/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02902-2 |archive-date=2025-09-18 |access-date=2026-01-22}}</ref><ref name="service2024">{{cite web |last=Service |first=Robert F. |date=December 12, 2024 |title=Leading scientists urge ban on developing 'mirror-image' bacteria |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-scientists-urge-ban-developing-mirror-image-bacteria |access-date=January 22, 2026 |website=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science}}</ref> Others have argued that the immune system might be able to recognize mirror versions of a certain type of biomolecule.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Derda |first1=Ratmir |last2=Aoki-Kinoshita |first2=Kiyoko F. |last3=Bennett |first3=Clay S. |last4=Bertozzi |first4=Carolyn R. |last5=Bojar |first5=Daniel |last6=De Castro |first6=Cristina |last7=Feizi |first7=Ten |last8=Goddard-Borger |first8=Ethan D. |last9=Imberty |first9=Anne |last10=Imperiali |first10=Barbara |last11=Jiménez-Barbero |first11=Jesús |last12=Kasper |first12=Dennis L. |last13=Kiessling |first13=Laura L. |last14=Laine |first14=Roger A. |last15=Lewis |first15=Nathan E. |display-authors=3 |date=February 25, 2025 |title=Remember The Glycans: Consideration of Glycans in Evaluating the Threat of Mirror-Image Life Forms |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9158 |journal=Science |type=eLetter |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |pmid= |access-date= |last16=Lisacek |first16=Frédérique |last17=Liu |first17=Yan |last18=Lowary |first18=Todd L. |last19=Macauley |first19=Matthew S. |last20=Mahal |first20=Lara K. |last21=Molinaro |first21=Antonio |last22=Packer |first22=Nicolle H. |last23=Paulson |first23=James C. |last24=Payne |first24=Richard J. |last25=Pratt |first25=Matthew R. |last26=Rademacher |first26=Christoph |last27=Seeberger |first27=Peter H. |last28=Williams |first28=Spencer J. |last29=Woods |first29=Robert J. |last30=Yamada |first30=Issaku}}</ref> Some scientists have proposed developing guidelines for synthetic biological entities regardless of their chirality.<ref name="zhu2025">{{cite journal |last=Zhu |first=Ting |date=2025-01-21 |title=Mirror of the unknown: should research on mirror-image molecular biology be stopped?. |journal=Nature |volume=645 |pages=588–591 |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-02912-0}}</ref>
==Potential applications of mirror-image molecules and organisms== The primary proposed benefit of creating mirror-image organisms is as a means to mass-produce mirror-image forms of molecules that are produced by normal life. Mirror-image molecules have been studied for several decades and may offer a range of potential applications.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bohannon |first=John |url=https://www.wired.com/story/building-a-parallel-universe/ |title=Building a Parallel Universe |work=Wired |date=2010-12-14 |access-date=2026-01-22}}</ref> There is broad agreement among scientists that it is important to distinguish between mirror-image molecules and whole mirror-image organisms.<ref name="unsab2026"/><ref name="zhu2025"/><ref name="adamala2024"/><ref name="zenodo2025"/><ref name="ukgov2025"/> Some scientists argue that chemical synthesis methods are sufficient for creating mirror-image molecules without posing the potentially catastrophic risks of mirror-image organisms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mirror Image Biology: Pushing the Envelope in Designing Biological Systems – A Workshop |url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DELS-BLS-25-03/event/45325 |website=National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |access-date=2026-01-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://vimeo.com/1142469777 |title=Dextera Biosciences, Commercial, and Investment Perspectives |author=Greg Went |date=2025-09-29 |via=Vimeo |access-date=2026-01-22}}</ref>
Potential applications of mirror-image molecules include:
* Enantiopure drugs: Some pharmaceuticals show different activity depending on enantiomeric form.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Pedroni |first1=Lorenzo |last2=Dall'Asta |first2=Chiara |last3=Galaverna |first3=Gianni |last4=Dellafiora |first4=Luca |date=2025 |title=Computational Perspectives on Amoxicillin and Staphylococcus Aureus in Mirror Life |journal=Global Challenges |volume=9 |issue=8 |article-number=e00051 |doi=10.1002/gch2.202500051 |pmid=40860460 |bibcode=2025GloCh...900051P |doi-access=free |pmc=12371197}}</ref> * <small>L</small>-ribonucleic acid aptamers: Artificial oligonucleotides that are constructed from the mirror-image versions of their natural forms. L-RNA aptamers are highly resistant to degradation by nucleases and are currently being tested in clinical trials. * <small>L</small>-glucose, enantiomer of standard glucose: Tests showed that it tastes likes standard sugar, but is not metabolized the same way. However, it was never marketed due to excessive manufacturing costs.<ref name=diab>{{cite web |url=https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2004/ch_4.html |title=A natural way to stay sweet |work=NASA |date=2004 |access-date=17 December 2024}}</ref> More recent research allows cheap production with high yields; however the authors state that it is not usable as a sweetener due to laxative effects.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martinez |first1=RF |title=Short and sweet: (D)-glucose to (L)-glucose and (L)-glucuronic acid |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |date=5 December 2013 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=1160–2 |doi=10.1002/anie.201309073 |pmid=24310928 |id=Epub 2013 Dec 5}}</ref>
==In fiction== The creation of a mirror-image human is the basis of the 1950 short story "Technical Error" by Arthur C. Clarke. In this story, a physical accident transforms a person into his mirror image, speculatively explained by travel through a fourth physical dimension. H. G. Wells' ''The Plattner Story'' (1896) is based on a similar idea.
In the 1970 ''Star Trek'' novel ''Spock Must Die!'' by James Blish, the science officer of the USS Enterprise is replicated in mirror-image form by a transporter mishap. He locks himself in the sick bay where he is able to synthesize mirror-image forms of basic nutrients needed for his survival.
An alien machine that reverses chirality, and a blood-symbiont that functions properly only when in one chirality, were central to Roger Zelazny's 1976 novel ''Doorways in the Sand''.
On the titular planet of Sheri S. Tepper's 1989 novel ''Grass'', some lifeforms have evolved to use the right-handed isomer of alanine.
In the ''Mass Effect'' series, chirality of amino acids in foodstuffs is discussed often in both dialogue and encyclopedia files.
In the 2014 science fiction novel ''Cibola Burn'' by James S. A. Corey, the planet Ilus has indigenous life with partially-mirrored chirality. This renders human colonists unable to digest native flora and fauna, and greatly complicates conventional farming. Consequently, the colonists have to rely upon hydroponic farming and food importation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Noble |first=Barnes & |title=Cibola Burn (Expanse Series #4){{!}}Paperback |url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cibola-burn-james-sa-corey/1117054786 |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Barnes & Noble |language=en}}</ref>
In the 2017 Daniel Suarez novel ''Change Agent'', an antagonist, Otto, nicknamed the "Mirror Man", is revealed to be a genetically engineered mirror-image human. Serving as an assassin due to his complete immunity to neurotoxins, which he coats himself with in the form of a cologne-like aerosol, he views other humans with disdain and causes them to feel an inexplicable repulsion by his very presence.<ref>{{cite book |title=Change Agent |isbn=978-1-101-98466-6 |language=en}}</ref>
The concept is used during Ryan North's 2023 run on Fantastic Four as an existential threat towards the human population.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-07-11 |title=Fantastic Four by Ryan North Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Fantastic Four? |url=https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9781302932633 |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=mitpressbookstore.mit.edu |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * {{annotated link|D-peptide}} * Mirror matter – A hypothetical form of matter that interacts only weakly with normal matter, which could form mirror planets, potentially inhabited by mirror-matter life * {{annotated link|Shadow biosphere}} * {{annotated link|Xenobiology}}
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== <references> <ref name=mirror_components>Multiple sources: * {{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Min |last2=Jiang |first2=Wenjun |last3=Liu |first3=Xianyu |last4=Wang |first4=Jiaxing |last5=Zhang |first5=Baochang |last6=Fan |first6=Chuyao |last7=Liu |first7=Lei |last8=Pena-Alcantara |first8=Giramnah |last9=Ling |first9=Jun-Jie |last10=Chen |first10=Ji |last11=Zhu |first11=Ting F. |title=Mirror-Image Gene Transcription and Reverse Transcription |journal=Chem |date=April 2019 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=848–857 |doi=10.1016/j.chempr.2019.01.001 |bibcode=2019Chem....5..848W |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451929419300257 |access-date=2025-10-08}} * {{cite journal |last1=Fan |first1=Chuyao |last2=Deng |first2=Qiang |last3=Zhu |first3=Ting F |title=Bioorthogonal information storage in L-DNA with a high-fidelity mirror-image Pfu DNA polymerase |journal=Nature Biotechnology |date=December 2021 |volume=39 |issue=12 |pages=1548–1555 |doi=10.1038/s41587-021-00969-6 |pmid=34326549}} * {{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Ji |last2=Chen |first2=Mengyin |last3=Zhu |first3=Ting F |title=Directed evolution and selection of biostable L-DNA aptamers with a mirror-image DNA polymerase |journal=Nature Biotechnology |date=November 2022 |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=1601–1609 |doi=10.1038/s41587-022-01337-8 |pmid=35668324 |pmc=9646512}} * {{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Guanwei |last2=Zhu |first2=Ting F |title=Mirror-image trypsin digestion and sequencing of D-proteins |journal=Nature Chemistry |date=April 2024 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=592–598 |doi=10.1038/s41557-023-01411-x |pmid=38238467 |bibcode=2024NatCh..16..592Z}} * {{cite journal |last1=Peplow |first1=Mark |title=Mirror-image enzyme copies looking-glass DNA |journal=Nature |date=May 2016 |volume=533 |issue=7603 |pages=303–304 |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.19918 |pmid=27193699 |bibcode=2016Natur.533..303P}} * {{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Wenjun |last2=Zhang |first2=Baochang |last3=Fan |first3=Chuyao |last4=Wang |first4=Min |last5=Wang |first5=Jiaxing |last6=Deng |first6=Qiang |last7=Liu |first7=Xianyu |last8=Chen |first8=Ji |last9=Zheng |first9=Jishen |last10=Liu |first10=Lei |last11=Zhu |first11=Ting F |title=Mirror-image polymerase chain reaction |journal=Cell Discovery |date=2017-10-17 |volume=3 |article-number=17037 |doi=10.1038/celldisc.2017.37 |pmid=29051832 |pmc=5643884}} * {{cite journal |last1=Peplow |first1=Mark |title=A Conversation with Ting Zhu |journal=ACS Central Science |date=2018-09-26 |volume=4 |issue=7 |pages=783–784 |doi=10.1021/acscentsci.8b00432 |doi-access=free|pmid=30062104 |pmc=6062833}} * {{cite journal |last1=Ling |first1=Jun-Jie |last2=Fan |first2=Chuyao |last3=Qin |first3=Hong |last4=Wang |first4=Min |last5=Chen |first5=Ji |last6=Wittung-Stafshede |first6=Pernilla |last7=Zhu |first7=Ting F |title=Mirror-Image 5S Ribonucleoprotein Complexes |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |date=2020-02-24 |volume=59 |issue=9 |pages=3724–3731 |doi=10.1002/anie.201914799 |pmid=31841243 |pmc=7217020 |bibcode=2020ACIE...59.3724L}} </ref> <ref name=polymerase> * {{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Zimou |last2=Xu |first2=Weiliang |last3=Liu |first3=Lei |last4=Zhu |first4=Ting F. |title=A synthetic molecular system capable of mirror-image genetic replication and transcription |journal=Nature Chemistry |volume=8 |issue=7 |year=2016 |pages=698–704 |issn=1755-4330 |doi=10.1038/nchem.2517 |pmid=27325097 |bibcode=2016NatCh...8..698W}} * {{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Yuan |last2=Zhu |first2=Ting F. |title=Mirror-image T7 transcription of chirally inverted ribosomal and functional RNAs |journal=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |volume=378 |issue=6618 |date=2022-10-28 |issn=0036-8075 |doi=10.1126/science.abm0646 |pages=405–412 |pmid=36302022 |bibcode=2022Sci...378..405X |s2cid=253183402}} </ref> </references>
Category:Chirality Category:Hypothetical life forms Category:Synthetic biology