Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering how certain reactions can favor the formation of one mirror-image form of a molecule over the other. Their work sheds light on how biological systems might have developed a preference for specific molecular handedness, despite initial conditions producing equal amounts of both forms. This breakthrough advances understanding of the origins of life's molecular asymmetry.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-07
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan of Université Paris-Sud and Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science. The prize recognises their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, work that explains how chemical reactions can favour one mirror-image molecule over another.
nobelprize.org
· 2026-10-07
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri Kagan of the University of Paris-Sud and Kenso Soai of Tokyo University, splitting the 12-million-kronor prize. Kagan's 1980s experiments showed how small imbalances in molecular handedness could be amplified, while Soai's 1990s work demonstrated that a single-handed molecule could catalyze production of more molecules sharing its own chirality, together explaining how life's building blocks end up uniformly 'one-handed.'
nature.com
· 2026-10-07
GoKawiil