Life Is Asymmetric. The Scientists Who Figured Out Why Won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Some molecules are chiral, meaning a molecule has two forms that are mirror images of each other but not identical, like your left and right hand. One of the most mysterious chemical phenomena in biology is that living organisms contain almost exclusively one of the two forms. This is known as homochirality.

Both versions of the molecules—each called an enantiomer—have similar physical properties but can behave differently. The Nobel Committee used a simple analogy to explain this: A locksmith can…