Understand
Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai
Overview
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to French scientist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese scientist Kenso Soai for solving the chemical mystery of life's asymmetry, specifically explaining why biological systems favour one mirror-image version of chiral molecules over the other.
Key points
- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai.
- The award recognises their solution to the chemical mystery of life's asymmetry.
- Molecules essential for life, such as amino acids, are chiral and exist as two mirror-image versions.
- Kagan and Soai answered why life selectively favours only one of these mirror-image molecular versions.