program
Technology and International Affairs
Biotechnology
Carnegie seeks to understand how international actors, especially China and India, view the opportunities and risks of biotechnology, and to explore how to reduce the potential that evolving biotechnologies will be weaponized or otherwise used to cause harm.
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.
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.
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."