Nobel Chemistry Prize goes to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for work on molecular handedness

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for explaining how homochirality emerged and creating a reliable method to make a desired variant of a molecule.

The Science

Molecules can have mirror-image forms like left and right gloves, a property chemists call chirality. Louis Pasteur showed in 1848 that lifeless molecules can have these mirror-image forms. Amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only the left-handed version builds proteins in cells. Sugar molecules in human DNA are right-handed. Chemists can make equal numbers of both in labs, but the choice of version matters greatly for making medicines. The drug thalidomide has two mirror-image forms, and between 1957 and 1961, it caused over 10,000 babies worldwide to be born with severe congenital abnormalities because of how its shapes interact with biological molecules.

The Discovery

Kagan noted that small initial differences do not always produce small outcomes, a parallel to evolutionary biology. Soai showed that a tiny initial excess of one molecular form can get amplified because the reaction product helps form more products with the same handedness.

Context

Basic scientific research driven by pure curiosity often leads to unexpected practical applications that change industries and improve public health. Understanding molecular structures helps scientists design safer and more effective pharmaceutical drugs today.