Policy Options to Prevent the Creation of Mirror Organisms

An article published in December 2024 in the journal Science warned of the potential risks to human, animal, and plant life posed by the development and release of mirror life. Mirror life’s molecular components, including genetic material, are mirror images of those found in nature. Mirror life could proliferate throughout the biosphere and evade major components of natural hosts’ immune systems. The authors of that article argued that mirror life could not be developed safely and could lead to the death of most complex life on earth.

In this paper, the authors describe U.S. and international policy mechanisms that could contribute to halting research and development programs to create mirror organisms. Domestic policy options could include executive branch statements and norm-building actions, a ban on federal funding of research toward the creation of mirror organisms, regulatory changes under the existing statutory authority in the federal select agent program and export controls, and legislation tailored to prohibiting and preventing the construction of mirror organisms. Policy options in the international arena include bilateral and multilateral engagement; invoking and using the authorities of the Biological Weapons Convention, the Environmental Modification Convention, and the United Nations Security Council; and the development of a new treaty banning research into mirror organisms.