Kagan, Soai win Nobel Chemistry Prize for solving chemical asymmetry puzzle
Por Agencies — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Nobel Prize World Europe Kagan, Soai win Nobel Chemistry Prize for solving chemical asymmetry puzzle
The scientists were honoured for their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis
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Agencies Published: 5:55pm, 7 Oct 2026 Updated: 6:38pm, 7 Oct 2026
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for solving the mystery of why only one version of some molecules’ mirror-image forms appears in nature, a discovery decisive for the development of pharmaceuticals.
The pair were honoured “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”, the jury said.
Like hands, all amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only one of them is found in the proteins in the body’s cells.
The other is rarely found in nature, a phenomenon known as “homochirality”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained.
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