2026 Chemistry Nobel Awarded for Mirror-Image Molecule Work — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Henri B. Kagan (95, Université Paris-Sud, France) and Kenso Soai (76, Tokyo University of Science, Japan) were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for their work on chirality — molecules that exist as mirror images of one another, like hands.
- Kagan discovered in 1986 how to manipulate chemical reactions to favor one mirror-image variant, and Soai later developed the "Soai reaction," which produced a single chiral molecule from a non-chiral combination for the first time "since the dawn of life."
- Peter Somfai of the Nobel Committee called the Soai reaction "probably the coolest experiment in organic chemistry."
- More than half of clinically employed drugs are chiral, and mirror molecules can cause different effects — exemplified by novrad (a cough medicine) and darvon (a painkiller) — or serious side effects, making the ability to isolate a single version a direct advance in drug safety.
- Soai called into the award ceremony at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm from his native Hiroshima, Japan, calling it "one of the most exciting days of my life."
- The winners will split 12 million Swedish Kronor (~$1.2 million); 202 chemistry prizes have been awarded since 1901, with 8 going to women and only 200 unique individuals, since Frederick Sanger and Barry Sharpless each won twice.
Why it matters: For the more than half of clinically used drugs that are chiral, this breakthrough means chemists can finally produce single-mirror-image versions rather than equal mixtures, translating directly into greater drug precision and fewer side effects. The two scientists will split roughly $1.2 million, and the achievement drew the rare verdict of a Nobel Committee member calling it "the coolest experiment in organic chemistry."
Ask SkimNews
