诺贝尔化学奖授予Henri Kagan和Kenso Soai

2024年诺贝尔化学奖颁发给Henri Kagan和Kenso Soai两位科学家12，表彰他们在镜像分子研究中的发现。两位获奖者发现了能够产生单一形式化学物质的化学反应，而非等量混合的左右手分子2。

手性分子具有镜像关系，它们的化学结构相同但为镜像形式，生物体需要特定的手性形式才能正常工作2。这一发现解决了生命起源研究中的关键难题：如何从等量混合的左右手分子转变为仅使用单一手性分子的生物体2。

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of chemical reactions capable of producing single forms of chiral molecules in excess rather than equal 50-50 mixtures.12 Their work addresses a fundamental challenge in understanding the origin of life: how biological systems evolved to use only one form of mirror-image molecules when both forms are chemically identical.2

Chiral molecules are chemical compounds that exist in two forms mirroring each other, much like left and right hands.2 While life depends on these molecules, living organisms require specific chiral forms to function properly.2 The laureates' breakthrough demonstrates how chemical reactions can selectively produce one chiral form over the other, solving a critical puzzle in molecular biology and the origins of life.2