Scientists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The scientists were awarded on Wednesday for solving the riddle of the “mirror image” molecules. This discovery has been instrumental in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Soai, 76, is Japanese and Kagan, 95, is French. Their work built on the work by Louis Pasteur, a 19th-century French chemist.
“This is the most exciting day in my life, I am very glad to share this prize with Professor Henri Kagan,” Soai said at the Nobel Prize press conference. He said that he heard the news while grocery shopping when he learned that he had won.
Kagan is the third-oldest person to win a Nobel Prize. His work spans decades and the former French research minister advocated for him when the Nobel Foundation left Kagan out in 2001. That year, the price went to two American and one Japanese scientist for work in the same field.
Right and Left-Handed Molecules
Many molecules essential to life come in two forms that are mirror images of each other. Yet, living organisms overwhelmingly rely on just one form, known as homochirality, derived from the Greek word for “hand.” Scientists have queried this preference for more than a century.
This year’s prize recognizes discoveries showing how chemical reactions can be directed to produce predominantly one molecular mirror image. The breakthrough has become especially important in pharmaceutical chemistry, where producing the correct molecular form can be key to how effective a drug is.
“The left-handed version of the drug can have one effect, and the right-handed version can have another effect, and then we need methods for selectively preparing them,” said Peter Somfai, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
The award ceremony where winners will receive their medals will take place on Decemeber 10 in Stockholm.
