Hello, this is Alok Jha, host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.
Please do have a listen.
Synthetic biology is moving fast and artificial intelligence is turbocharging it.
Soon, scientists may be able to create whole cells from scratch.
This could allow the AI-assisted exploration of completely unnatural biochemistries.
One such is mirror life.
Many organic molecules come in two asymmetrical forms, like your hands.
Amino acids and sugars can in theory take on both a left- and right-handed form which cannot be superimposed.
In nature, organisms generally contain only one of those forms for each molecule.
However, an artificial cell could have its molecules' handedness reversed.
That could shed light on reasons behind handedness.
Perhaps the anti-molecules may turn out to be valuable as drugs, say.
Yet any potential benefits pale beside the threats.
Immune systems may not recognize mirror bacteria in the way that a glove will not fit the wrong hand.
Mirror bacteria may therefore become wildly pathogenic.
Because viruses and predatory amoebas
that keep natural pathogens in check may be unable to control them, they could ravage ecosystems.
If mirror life escaped from the lab, it would be impossible to recall.