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RAND Urges US-China Ban on Mirror Ribosome Development
RAND has called on the United States and China to jointly ban the development of mirror ribosomes. In a commentary first published in The Washington Post on August 31, the think‑tank urged the two countries to prohibit work on these cellular machines. Mirror ribosomes could simplify the production of mirror‑image proteins for drugs while also advancing efforts to create a mirror bacterium.
The commentary points to a July White House policy statement that RAND highlights for its phrase “creation of mirror organisms.” Mirror life refers to hypothetical organisms whose DNA and proteins are built from mirror‑image versions of natural molecules; the first such organism might be a bacterium. Ordinary bacteria are normally checked by immune systems, enzymes, and competing microbes.
According to the author’s model, a mirror bacterium could evade those defenses and spread outside the laboratory. In 2024, dozens of scientists warned in Science against allowing such an organism to be created. Mirror‑image drug molecules can persist longer in the body because standard degradation pathways act on them differently.
The author asks, “Need to determine at what point potentially useful early research steps turn into movement down a slippery slope.” RAND proposes that the US and China agree to ban mirror ribosome development and jointly seek alternative ways to obtain mirror proteins. Such an agreement would separate the pursuit of possible medicines from the technology that could bring about a mirror organism.
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