RAND Urges the United States and China to Restrict the Development of Mirror Ribosomes, the Cellular Machines That Assemble Proteins

RAND Urges the United States and China to Restrict the Development of Mirror Ribosomes, the Cellular Machines That Assemble Proteins

On August 31, a RAND commentary, first published in The Washington Post, proposed that the United States and China jointly prohibit the development of mirror ribosomes. These cellular machines could help produce mirror proteins for medicines while also bringing researchers closer to creating a mirror bacterium.

The commentary responded to a White House policy issued in July, focusing on its reference to “the creation of mirror organisms.” Mirror life refers to hypothetical organisms whose DNA and proteins consist of mirror versions of natural molecules. The author argues that the first such organism could be a bacterium.

Ordinary bacteria encounter resistance from immune systems, enzymes, and other microorganisms. Under the author’s model, these protective systems might fail to recognize a mirror bacterium, allowing it to spread beyond the laboratory. In 2024, dozens of scientists called for preventing its creation in an article in Science.

Mirror drug molecules may persist longer in the body because normal degradation processes interact with them differently. A mirror ribosome could make such proteins easier to produce and constitute a major step toward a self-replicating organism with mirror biochemistry.

“We need to determine when potentially useful early research steps begin a progression toward increasingly dangerous work.”

Under this proposal, the United States and China could agree to prohibit the development of mirror ribosomes while jointly pursuing other methods for producing mirror proteins. Such an agreement would separate the development of potential medicines from a technology that could bring researchers closer to creating a mirror organism.