Nobel Prize for Chemistry Awarded for Breakthroughs That Advanced Modern Pharmaceuticals

Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research into molecular chirality, or 'handedness.' Their work solved a century-old mystery regarding how chemical reactions can be controlled to produce only one of two mirror-image versions of a molecule. This breakthrough is fundamental to modern pharmacology, as different mirror images of the same molecule can have vastly different effects on the human body, ranging from therapeutic to toxic.

Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research into molecular chirality, or 'handedness.' Their work solved a century-old mystery regarding how chemical reactions can be controlled to produce only one of two mirror-image versions of a molecule. This breakthrough is fundamental to modern pharmacology, as different mirror images of the same molecule can have vastly different effects on the human body, ranging from therapeutic to toxic.