"being a human is so boring why can't I be one of the COOL animals" okay hey. I hear you. but I actually really super love being an omnivorous persistence hunting primate with a stomach capable of dissolving many literal poisons and the ability to smell geosmin (released in the soil after it rains) at five parts per trillion. I super enjoy being a bipedal terrifyingly agile mammal with some of the most efficient sweat glands in the animal kingdom. I find a lot of joy in being an endotherm with mimicry abilities that rival most other animals with vocal chords. it's sick as hell I'm having a lot of fun
one of my personal favourite things in science is chirality. for those that haven't heard of it, it's basically the idea that a something's mirror image is not the same as the original shape. it can be a bit confusing - try using your hands to visualise it. with both your palms facing the same way, they are mirror images, but if you rotate one of your hands it doesn't become the same shape as the other at any point. therefore, your hands are chiral.
consequently, things whose mirror image can be superimposed onto the original are achiral.
if this is still tough to get your head around, i recommend taking a look at this website:
An object can either be chiral or achiral. Achiral objects are identical to their mirror image. Chiral objects are not. Chiral objects are
in the science world, this concept is really important. everything in life is chiral - known as homochirality - and it exhibits both 'left-handedness' and 'right-handedness'; animo acids and proteins are left-handed, and DNA, RNA, and their "building blocks" are right-handed (which is why DNA spirals to the right).
chirality exists in compounds and substances as well, and here's where the concept comes into play.
our bodies and medicines have evolved to recognise and target compounds, bacteria, viruses, et cetera, but all of these have a specific 'handedness' that we have grown accustomed to. therefore, our bodies are essentially ineffective against mirror versions of these things that we otherwise see on a day to day basis.
in pharmaceuticals, this has the potential to be groundbreaking. as our medicine evolves, so do viruses and bacteria, but if we were to make a 'mirror' medicine, its targets would have very little defense against it. this could slow down bacteria's and viruses' evolution against medicines and, with a lot of work, could even be the demise of some infections as a whole. adding onto that, medicines could have an improved effect on us; as our immune systems only recognise a specific handedess, mirror medicines could last for longer and be safer than current ones.
however, there is also the potential that mirror bacteria (as one example) could come to exist as well. bacteria have 'fingerprints', of sorts. when a foreign substance enters our bodies, defenses that we've built up help us to recognise and destroy anything harmful because of its fingerprint.
were a mirror bacteria to invade an animal or plant, it could be unable to inflict pathogenic effects on the host's immune system because of 'mismatched chirality'. woohoo!
however, as there is so little research into actual effects of mirror bacteria -partially because we aren't able to create even normal life synthetically yet, and partly because of risks that will be mentioned very shortly - they could act as a cancer, using up necessary things in the host's body like nutrients and physical space.
sounds great. and it only gets better!
there is also the chance that if one of these mirror bacterium was to infect someone, it could be allowed to spread with very little, if any, resistance (as our immune systems are primed to defend against specific handedness-es).
do you see how this could be an issue with contagious illnesses?
thus, there is the possibility that - were mirror bacteria or other forms of mirror life to be created - our crops, livestock, wildlife, nature, and even humans, could be completely wiped out.
even though this is possibly one of the most interesting concepts in science, and could solve many problems with infections and illnesses globally, the risk is literally unprecedented. luckily, there are boundaries in place to ensure our safety. while we are barely scratching the surface of even creating synthetic life in the first place - and it will take a lot of scientific innovation before creating mirror life is even an option - there are ongoing global discussions about limitations on the area that research into the topic should be allowed to spread.
( i can't find any official names or documents of government restrictions, likely due to the fact that it's still a conversation that governments are having, but scientists around the world have agreed that experimentation with mirror life should have strict guidelines. the uk's office for science in the government states that "a clear distinction should be made between research to develop mirror components (individual molecules such as peptides and enzymes) and mirror organisms or cells (or any biological unit capable of self-replication), even though both are sometimes termed 'mirror life'.", but there's little information on the actual guidelines.)
anyways, thanks for listening to my ted talk. i'm a bit of a science nerd and this is by far one of my favourite subjects of discussion. feel free to ask me questions or request another topic for me to discuss!
Citations:
Service, R. (2023) ‘breakthrough’ could explain why life molecules are left- or right-handed | science | AAAS. Available at: https://www.science.org/content/article/breakthrough-could-explain-why-life-molecules-are-left-or-right-handed (Accessed: 07 February 2026).
Sample, I. (2024) ‘unprecedented risk’ to life on earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/12/unprecedented-risk-to-life-on-earth-scientists-call-for-halt-on-mirror-life-microbe-research (Accessed: 07 February 2026).
Unknown (2025) Mirror life, GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mirror-life/mirror-life#key-points (Accessed: 07 February 2026).
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