The pair have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize for discoveries that have enabled chemists to drive chemical reactions that lead to homochirality.
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In the lecture theater, we have discussed the chirality : Nature loves L-amino acids and D-sugars! Look also at the work of Pasteur on chirality
Pasteur and chirality: A story of how serendipity favors the prepared minds
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The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri Karan and Kenso Soai for their discoveries of new ways to manipulate chemical reactions. For you chemists out there, the official recognition reads, “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”
Some molecules, like amino acids, exist as two variants, like your hands, that are each other’s mirror image. These mirror images reflect the fundamental chemistry of life — a state that chemists call homochiral, from the Greek words for “same” and “hand.” However, in living organisms only one of these mirror images is usually found. How this type of chemical asymmetry can occur has been a mystery to chemists for a long time. Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 for discovering a solution to this puzzle.

