program
Technology and International Affairs
Mirror Life Policy Working Group
Mirror life is an unprecedented risk that demands action. The Mirror Life Policy Working Group is developing recommendations for guiding and governing the pursuit of beneficial mirror biology while preventing the creation of mirror life.
Technology and International Affairs
The Technology and International Affairs Program develops insights to address the governance challenges and large-scale risks of new technologies. Our experts identify actionable best practices and incentives for industry and government leaders on artificial intelligence, cyber threats, cloud security, countering influence operations, reducing the risk of biotechnologies, and ensuring global digital inclusion.
What Is Mirror Life?
Mirror life refers to synthetic organisms built entirely from mirror-image biological molecules—the reverse of the molecular chirality found in all known life. Because immune systems and ecological defenses on Earth have evolved to recognize and respond to natural-chirality molecules, a self-replicating mirror organism could evade many of these defenses, potentially leading to lethal infections in humans, animals, and plants while proliferating widely in the environment. The United Nations Secretary-General's Scientific Advisory Board has concluded, “The creation of mirror life could pose a catastrophic threat to humanity.”
What Is the Working Group?
The Mirror Life Policy Working Group is an international, expert-led process to develop recommendations for preventing the creation of mirror life. The working group was developed to complement the extensive scientific dialogue on mirror life and offer policy recommendations informed by technical conclusions. The recommendations will be presented in a published policy report that addresses where guardrails could be established and how governments, the national and international security community, scientific institutions, and multilateral bodies can take action.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is convening the Mirror Life Policy Working Group with Secretariat support provided by the Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund (MBDF).
Co-Chairs
The Policy Working Group is led by four Co-Chairs — each serving in their individual capacity — representing the breadth of international scientific and policy expertise essential to producing recommendations with global credibility.
Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg
Co-President, InterAcademy Partnership; former commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Professor Wilmot James
Professor of Practice in Health Policy, Brown University School of Public Health; former Shadow Minister of Health and Member of Parliament, South Africa
Professor Maria Leptin
President, European Research Council
Professor Chenli Liu
President, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Carnegie Experts
Visiting Scholar, Technology and International Affairs Program
Lucas Fluegel is a visiting scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he explores the implications of advanced biotechnologies for international governance and global stability.
Vice President for Studies
Corey Hinderstein is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, overseeing the Technology and International Affairs Program, the Nuclear Policy Program, and the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program.