Creating mirror bacteria becomes scientifically possible

7.8 significance by Dario Amodei Security December 2034

Why does it matter?

Nothing alive could digest mirror bacteria, so an escape would have no natural brake on it.

Direct quote

There is substantial scientific uncertainty about both the creation and potential effects of mirror life. The 2024 letter accompanied a report that concluded that “mirror bacteria could plausibly be created in the next one to few decades,” which is a wide range. But a sufficiently powerful AI model (to be clear, far more capable than any we have today) might be able to discover how to create it much more rapidly—and actually help someone do so.

Dario Amodei