Some scientists trying to create "mirror life" have stopped in their tracks. A mirror microorganism could end up being a major pathogen since immune systems wouldn't notice it. Mirror-image biology ...

Synthetic biology offers many tantalizing possibilities, but scientists consider some projects too risky to pursue. DBenitostock/Moment via Getty Images Most major biological molecules, including all ...

Consider your hands. They are essentially identical in every respect bar one: They are mirror images of each other. Many of the molecules of life, such as proteins and DNA, have the same property.

Organic molecules have a property known as chirality, in which the structure can be either 'right-handed' or 'left-handed,' with one being the mirror image of the other. Llife on earth is homochiral, ...

Kate Adamala had been working on something dangerous. At her synthetic biology lab, Adamala had been taking preliminary steps toward creating a living cell from scratch with one key twist: All the ...

In 1847 when Louis Pasteur first methodically separated left- and right-handed tartrate crystals from the cork of a wine bottle, the idea of creating life from oppositely handed molecules was almost ...

Creating "mirror life" could be one of science's greatest breakthroughs, but some researchers who began the effort are now calling for it to stop. No mirror-life microorganisms exist yet. However, 38 ...

Most major biological molecules, including all proteins, DNA and RNA, point in one direction or another. In other words, they are chiral, or handed. Like how your left glove fits only your left hand ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Kate Adamala, University of Minnesota (THE CONVERSATION) Most major biological ...