#chirality

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fromFuturism
2 days ago

Scientist Warns That New Synthetic Lifeform Could Spell Doom for Humankind

Mirror lifeforms contain DNA structures that are the mirror image to all known organisms. In all life on Earth, the DNA double helix is right-handed, meaning its strands, a sugar-phosphate backbone, twist to the right. (If you make a thumbs-up with your right hand, the vertical axis would be aligned with your thumb, while your fingers represent the curl of the spiral.) The opposite is the case for proteins, the building blocks of cells, which are left-handed.
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fromWIRED
2 months ago

How the Universe and Its Mirrored Version Are Different

Chirality is a critical property of particles; synthesizing mirror-image life could pose biological risks if escaped.
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fromNature
3 months ago

Rare 'ambidextrous' protein breaks rules of handedness

Scientists discovered an ambidextrous protein that can function in both left-handed and right-handed forms, potentially reflecting early life based on mirror-image molecules.
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