Name: 鏡像細菌是什麼？為何科學家認為它可能顛覆人類生存基礎 (Mirror Bacteria Could Destroy All Life As We Know It)
Uploaded: 2025-11-21T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 8 min 15 s

In December 2024, a report came out about a potential upcoming global catastrophe.

2024 年 12 月，有一份報告提出了一個潛在的全球災難。

38 scientists had teamed up to issue a warning.

They predicted how devastating this catastrophe could be and proposed what we could do to prevent it from happening.

他們預測了這場災難可能造成的破壞，並提出了防止其發生的措施。

If this was your typical Hollywood movie, the catastrophe would be something utterly sensational.

如果這是一部典型的好萊塢電影，這場災難會是極其轟動的事件。

Like an asteroid the size of Texas smashing into actual Texas.

像是一顆德州大小的小行星撞向真正的德州。

Or some tech bros AI software gaining sentience and starting the crusade against all life on the planet.

或者一些科技公司開發的 AI 軟體獲得自主意識，開始對地球上所有生命發動 crusade（征服行動）。

The reality might sound boring by comparison, but I don't think that it is so.

現實相比之下可能聽起來無聊，但我認為並非如此。

The scientists were raising awareness about so-called mirror bacteria, a type of synthetic bacteria whose molecules are all back to front.

科學家們在提醒大家注意所謂的「鏡像細菌」，一種分子完全顛倒的合成細菌。

The threat they pose is right up there with anything Hollywood could throw at us.

它們帶來的威脅，堪比好萊塢電影中出現的任何災難。

To understand the true threat of mirror bacteria, we have to start with the chirality or handedness of molecules.

要理解鏡像細菌的真正威脅，我們得從分子的手性（chirality）或「左右手性」說起。

The biomolecules that make up both you and the oodles of microbes living inside of you all feature carbon atoms.

構成人體以及體內無數微生物的生物分子，都是以碳原子為基礎。

And to make the molecules, each carbon atom can make up to four chemical bonds with other atoms.

每個碳原子可以與其他原子形成最多四個化學鍵，從而構建分子。

Sometimes they bind in such a way that they create something chiral.

有時它們的結合方式會產生手性分子。

You can wind up with getting either a left handed or a right handed version of the molecule.

你可能得到分子的左手型或右手型，就像你的手一樣。

There's no way to rotate left handed molecules to make it indistinguishable from its right handed twin.

無法旋轉左手型分子使它與右手型分子完全相同。

But when it comes to very important biomolecules like DNA or proteins, life needs them to always have the same handedness.

但對於像 DNA 或蛋白質這樣的重要生物分子，生命需要它們具有統一的手性。

So way back in the planet's primordial soup days, life basically had to pick sides in literally every living thing on earth.

所以在地球原始湯時期，生命基本上必須在每個生物體中選擇一種手性。

DNA and RNA are right handed and proteins are left handed.

DNA 和 RNA 是右手型，蛋白質是左手型。

When I say DNA is right handed, I'm talking about the configuration of the sugars inside the DNA molecule being right handed, not the twist of the helix.

當我說 DNA 是右手型時，是指 DNA 分子內的糖結構是右手型，不是指螺旋的扭轉。

Usually the helix is also right handed, but it can be left handed.

通常螺旋也是右手型，但也可能是左手型。

In fact, SciShow has covered that before.

實際上，SciShow 以前也有介紹過。

But the DNA sugars, they are all right, alright?

但 DNA 的糖結構，都是右手型，明白吧？

Anyway, our left handed proteins can interact with right handed DNA no problem.

我們的左手蛋白質可以正常與右手 DNA 互動。

Trying to work with a right handed protein would be like trying to put your right shoe on your left foot.

試圖與右手蛋白質合作，就像把右腳鞋穿到左腳上一樣困難。

The reason that we know all of this is scientists can make heterochiral DNA and proteins.

我們之所以知道這些，是因為科學家可以製造異手性（heterochiral）的 DNA 和蛋白質。

In other words, the mirror versions of what nature churns out.

換句話說，就是自然產出的鏡像版本。

And experiments have proven that our left-handed protein enzymes mostly can't react with right-handed versions of the proteins they're supposed to.

實驗證明，我們的左手蛋白酶大多無法與右手蛋白質作用。

But this actually isn't always a bad thing.

Heterochiral components antigens are useful in drugs because the body can't break them down as easily.

異手性成分的抗原在藥物中很有用，因為身體不易分解它們。

These drugs have plenty of normal chiral parts that can interface with proteins in your body.

這些藥物有大量正常手性部分，可與體內蛋白質互動。

But some of the building blocks are heterochiral, so the drug has a longer half life.

但部分構建塊是異手性，讓藥物半衰期更長。

Also, those heterochiral molecules are less likely to trigger an immune response, which is great for therapeutic applications.

此外，這些異手性分子更不容易觸發免疫反應，非常適合治療用途。

So drugs of this nature are an active area of RD and they're not considered a threat to our existence.

所以這類藥物是研發的活躍領域，且不被視為對生命的威脅。

In fact, one that treats chronic kidney disease is already approved and in use.

事實上，用於治療慢性腎病的藥物已經批准並投入使用。

And a cancer targeting one is in clinical trials.

針對癌症的藥物正在臨床試驗中。

But if scientists can already make heterochiral DNA and proteins, can they use those building blocks to make something way more complicated?

但是，既然科學家已能製造異手性 DNA 和蛋白質，他們能否用這些構建塊製造更複雜的東西？

Labs are still working on synthetic bacteria made out of the regular stuff, let alone the mirror stuff.

實驗室仍在製造常規合成細菌，更別說鏡像版本了。

But once that box gets ticked off the proverbial to-do list, it'll likely be pretty straightforward to make the jump.

但一旦這一步完成，跨越到鏡像細菌應該相對容易。

Plus, we wouldn't need to engineer a whole mirror environment in including mirror food to sustain these new mirror bacteria.

此外，我們不需要打造整個鏡像環境或鏡像食物來維持這些鏡像細菌。

That's because a lot of nutrients aren't chiral molecules at all.

因為很多營養物質根本不是手性分子。

They can be metabolized by both normal or mirror proteins.

它們可以被正常或鏡像蛋白質代謝。

Basically, a future earth populated by mirror life isn't imminent.

基本上，鏡像生命主導的地球尚未迫在眉睫。

But the scientists behind this warning think it's definitely possible.

但這些科學家認為確實有可能。

And there has been some funding put towards that goal already.

而且已有一些資金投入這個目標。

No, not by a mad billionaire trying to wipe out everyone so that they can reset evolution on the planet and play God.

不是由瘋狂的億萬富翁資助，想毀滅一切重置地球上的進化並扮演上帝。

Although given how we open this episode, you might be wondering, if not that, then who and why?

雖然根據本集開場，你可能會想，如果不是那樣，那是誰在做、為什麼？

Well, there's interest for a couple of reasons.

As far as we know, life evolved just once on this planet.

據我們所知，生命在地球上只演化過一次。

So some scientists wonder whether our specific chirality setup is a coincidence that evolution just decided to run with.

所以一些科學家想知道，我們特定的手性配置是否只是演化偶然選擇的結果。

If they could create and observe mirror bacteria,

如果他們能創造並觀察鏡像細菌，

they might wind up proving that right-handed DNA and left-handed proteins are actually better suited for life on Earth.

他們可能證明右手 DNA 和左手蛋白質更適合地球上的生命。

Meanwhile, there's also a more pragmatic goal.

Remember those next gen drugs that are part mirror molecules?

還記得那些部分是鏡像分子的下一代藥物嗎？

Well, right now those molecules are tricky to make synthetically, so scientists could potentially use mirror bacteria as tiny factories.

目前這些分子合成起來很困難，所以科學家可能用鏡像細菌作為微型工廠。

And yet the authors of that 2024 report proposed a ban on funding projects to create mirror life and stringent regulation and oversight on any research that is mirror molecule Y.

然而，那份 2024 年的報告建議禁止資助創造鏡像生命的計畫，並對任何鏡像分子研究進行嚴格監管與審查。

那麼，什麼讓這些專家感到害怕？

Well, basically, it boils down to the fact that all our defenses against bacteria are based on chiral chemistry.

基本上，是因為我們所有對抗細菌的防禦都基於手性化學。

Just like a left shoe doesn't fit particularly well on our right foot.

Most of our current antibacterial tools aren't compatible with mirror bacteria's biomolecules.

我們目前的大多數抗菌工具無法與鏡像細菌的生物分子兼容。

While there are some classes that don't care about handedness, most existing antibiotics are chiral.

雖然有些類型不受手性影響，但大多數現有抗生素都是手性分子。

And while it might be possible to make mirror antibiotics, in some cases, it's neither a quick process nor guaranteed to work.

雖然可能製造鏡像抗生素，但有時既耗時又不一定有效。

Then there's the human immune system, which itself relies on recognition to activate its bacteria destroying mode.

再者，人類免疫系統依靠辨識來啟動消滅細菌的模式。

That's not an option if the bacterial proteins are mirrored and effectively invisible to our detector proteins.

如果細菌蛋白被鏡像化，對我們的檢測蛋白來說就像隱形一樣。

But even if our immune system could sidestep that hurdle to at least figure out that the body had been invaded,

即使免疫系統能跨過這個障礙，至少察覺入侵，

our enzymes that digest bacterial proteins likely wouldn't work on the mirror life.

我們消化細菌蛋白的酶可能無法作用於鏡像生命。

And before you think maybe nature has a way to destroy those bacteria before they get into our bodies, well, there are viruses that help keep populations down.

別以為大自然會先消滅這些細菌，阻止它們進入人體，病毒會幫助控制細菌族群。

They propagate by hijacking the bacterium's proteins and then killing it.

病毒透過劫持細菌蛋白來繁殖，並最終殺死細菌。

Yeah, it's the protein problem once again.

Bacteria also have predators, but they might not be able to digest the mirror version of their food.

細菌也有天敵，但它們可能消化不了鏡像版本的食物。

And bacteria do battle amongst themselves, too.

But their weapons are biological in nature, and they likely wouldn't work in the mirrorverse. All that's to say.

但它們使用的生物武器在鏡像世界可能失效。總之，

According to this group of scientists, mirror bacteria would be invisible to most natural forms of defense that survived billions of years of evolution.

這群科學家認為，鏡像細菌對大多數自然防禦機制都是隱形的，而這些防禦經過了數十億年的演化。

So the concern isn't that they would cause some kind of disease.

所以擔心的不是它們會引發疾病。

It's that once they got inside you, whether it's through a cut in your skin or one of your many mucous membranes,

而是一旦它們進入體內，不論是透過皮膚傷口或黏膜，

they'd multiply unchecked and eat up all of the nutrients in your body.

它們會不受控制地繁殖，消耗體內所有營養。

They might even damage your body due to their sheer mass.

它們甚至可能因自身大量而損害身體。

But it's not just our defenses that would conk out in this scenario.

而且不僅是我們的防禦會失效。

The same would apply to other animals and plants.

So if an infected human sheds some mirror bacteria out into the world

如果受感染的人將鏡像細菌排出到環境中，

you might have to say goodbye to agriculture, not to mention a bunch of living things you don't plan to eat.

你可能要跟農業說再見，更不用說其他不打算食用的生物了。

Maybe human ingenuity could come up with some sort of countermeasures.

But not before a significant loss of life.

And the report proposes it wouldn't be enough to ever stop the damage.

報告指出，對策也無法完全阻止損害。

They would merely prolong the inevitable.

Of course, it's worth noting that other scientists have argued all of this fear is premature,

當然，值得注意的是，其他科學家認為這種恐慌為時過早，

and bans could stymie unrelated research.

But they do agree with those 38 authors on one thing:

但他們在一點上與這 38 位作者達成共識：

it is important that we have a robust discussion about the risks and benefits of this technology before actually doing it.

在真正實施之前，對這項技術的風險和益處進行充分討論非常重要。

Meanwhile, if Hollywood wants to make a movie about a world in which we're all getting slowly filled up by a bunch of microscopic, mindless mirrorverse soldiers, I'm not gonna go watch it.

同時，如果好萊塢想拍一部電影，講述我們逐漸被微小、無意識的鏡像士兵填滿的世界，我才不會去看呢。