The researchers said that their concerns are not about stifling innovation but about ensuring scientific progress aligns with public safety.

Breakthroughs in synthetic biology could create mirror versions of natural molecules, with devastating consequences for life on Earth

A group of the world's leading biologists have called for an immediate halt on a technology you've probably never even heard of — but is so dangerous that it could devastate life itself on this planet.

Mirror bacteria” made in a lab could endanger all life on earth, an international group of leading scientists have warned in a new report. All building-block molecules of life like DNA, proteins and carbohydrates have a unique structural property that still perplexes scientists.

However, the rapid progress in synthetic biology comes with risks that scientists say we are not fully prepared to manage. Now, a group of international researchers is warning that one such innovation — mirror-image bacteria — could become a danger too great to ignore.

Now he is among the 38 scientists who are warning against it. The fact that the body can't break down these mirror-version proteins was initially considered a selling point, but that incompatibility with 'natural' life is also what now has scientists concerned.