alt Hacker NewsIt is extremely dangerous and we don't need studies to know this. Consider a bacteria which your immune system cannot see. Such a thing would kill you very very quickly. Now, consider that our immune systems are composed of molecules of the normal chirality. They would be completely unable to recognize the molecules mirror life would use.
Replies
unddoch • today at 5:17 PM
Being of the opposite chirality doesn't magically make antibodies pass through you. Antibodies can and do bind molecules of all sizes and chiralities.
mrlonglong • today at 3:03 PM
This is precisely the reason why we shouldn't do this. Too dangerous.
Also our immune system will be (for good reasons) killing off anything else it encounters, which means hopes like "I'm sure it'll get out-competed by $regular_bacteria in the water" are foolish.
Imagine a mirror-bacteria that does nothing directly against your cells, and seems benign at first glance... but it will slowly grow in your bloodstream and simply thicken it until your heart fails. Everyone in the world forever on artificial dialysis would not be survivable.