ScienceYahooScientists Fear 'Mirror Life' Could End Humanity, But We May Now Be Able to Detect It
Researchers have proposed a light-based detection method for hypothetical mirror life organisms, which scientists warn could pose a serious global biosecurity threat.
We're through the looking-glass.
UK researchers have published a method to detect hypothetical mirror life organisms, which scientists warn could evade the biological defences of all living things.
The method uses circularly polarised luminescence, a property of light that reveals molecular handedness, and could be built into cameras and microscopes.
The researchers describe mirror life as a low-likelihood but high-severity global biosecurity threat, and plan to test the probes on ordinary cells next.
Mirror life does not yet exist, but researchers from Strathclyde and Durham universities say existing light technology could be adapted now to screen for it if it ever emerges.
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