‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research
Akuchimoya @ Akuchimoya @startrek.website Posts 1Comments 165Joined 2 yr. ago
Akuchimoya @ Akuchimoya @startrek.website
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I have a question with my very limited knowledge of biology:
Currently, pathogens "use" certain resources in a host, and then the host's immune system creates antibodies that eventually kill the pathogens (or the pathogen kills the host).
The arguments are: mirror pathogens would require mirror antibodies, which is not possible for natural bodies to produce. However, this is not really a problem because our physical selves as resources would be incompatible with the needs of a mirror pathogen.
My question is: mirror or otherwise, could a pathogen "hijack" something other than usual as a resource?
Let's say, I don't know, Prime Pathogen A normally uses Prime Protein A, Mirror Pathogen A would require Mirror Pathogen A. Is it possible for a host to have a Prime Protein B that meets Mirror Pathogen A's requirement–perhaps not perfectly, but "good enough" to sustain Mirror Pathogen A?