Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded for Research Solving 'Mirror Image' Mystery

Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their pioneering research that resolved a long-standing mystery concerning the formation of asymmetrical molecules, also known as 'mirror images.' The Nobel Committee for Chemistry highlighted their discoveries as crucial for chemists involved in designing reactions for the pharmaceutical industry.

Kagan, 95, is affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Soai, born in Japan, is associated with Tokyo University of Science. Soai recounted being informed of the award while shopping near his home. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the laureates in Stockholm.

Their work provides a solution to how homochirality, the phenomenon where molecules exist in one of two mirror-image forms, can emerge spontaneously. The committee described the chemical reactions they developed as "spectacular."

This year's Nobel Prizes have also recognized advancements in medicine and physics. The medicine prize was awarded to three scientists for developing tools that use light to study the brain, while the physics prize honored a scientist for work on neutrinos. The literature prize is set to be announced, followed by the peace prize and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

The prize money for each Nobel Prize this year is 12 million Swedish kronor, approximately $1.2 million.