- Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their efforts to resolve mysterious mirror images in chemical molecules.
- 95-year-old Kagan, who was born in France, is affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, and Soai, born in Japan, with the Tokyo University of Science.
- The scientists found techniques that allow chemists to selectively produce specific mirror-image versions of molecules.
- Kenso Soai expressed his delight at the award, revealing he was out shopping near his home when he was reached by the Nobel committee.
- “Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously,” Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said in a news release.
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