Homochirality in Biology

One of the most distinctive properties of life is that the molecules comprising an organism possess a distinct handedness, or chirality. All known life uses only right-handed sugars, and only left-handed amino acids to make proteins, though right-handed amino acids are sometimes used to fulfill other roles. Viewed in a mirror, the chirality is reversed. The laws of physics that govern the formation of molecules are "mirror-symmetric," i.e. indifferent to left or right, so that the homochirality of known life needs explaining.

The workshop dealt in part with the origin of homochirality, but also embraced a wider agenda. In the search for life beyond Earth, is homochirality a reliable signature? What abiotic processes generate a chiral excess? Can we consider "mirror life" based on familiar organic molecules but of opposite chirality? Might there be mirror life right here on Earth forming a shadow biosphere? What happens when bacteria and archaea are grown in a chirally-reversed nutrient medium?

Participants

Ariel, Anbar

Jeffrey, Bada

Steve, Benner

Donna, Blackmond

Paul, Davies

Marcelo, Gleiser

Richard, Hoover

Stuart, Kauffman

Gil, Levin

Chris, McKay

Elena, Pikuta

Sandra, Pizzarello

Teresa, Segura

Everett, Shock

Henry, Sun

Sara, Walker

David, Warmflash