The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for work on chirality. Here is what that means.

Chirality comes from the Greek word for hand. Many molecules exist in two forms that are mirror images, like your left and right hands. They look alike but behave differently.

Life is picky. Proteins in our cells use only one of the two forms, a pattern called homochirality. Nobody knew how nature made that choice, and chemists could not copy it. Lab reactions made a 50-50 mix.

Kagan showed in the 1980s how catalysts could favour one form. Soai built a reaction in 2003 that made only one form, proving it could happen without life.

Why it matters: many drugs are chiral. One mirror form may cure while the other does nothing or harms. The winners’ chemistry helps drugmakers build only the safe form.

The pair share 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million.