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Chemistry Nobel goes to reactions like those that gave life a hand

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 07/10/2026, 19:43:23 UTC.

Briefings

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for discovering that chemical reactions can be biased toward producing one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule. This breakthrough explains how life selectively uses only one enantiomer despite starting with a 50-50 mix, as most enzymes fail with the wrong handedness. The study reveals that these reactions can create large excesses of one form, potentially solving the origin-of-life challenge. The research was published in October 2026 and remains a preprint with significant uncertainty regarding its reproducibility and scale.

Key points

• Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai discovered that chemical reactions can be biased to produce large excesses of one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.
• This discovery explains how life selectively uses only one enantiomer despite starting with a 50-50 mix, as most enzymes fail with the wrong handedness.

Context and limitations

The study remains a preprint with significant uncertainty regarding its reproducibility and scale. Specific experimental conditions, sample sizes, and long-term stability data are not fully detailed in the available evidence.

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