{
  "id": 12616854,
  "title": "Kagan and Soai win 2026 Nobel chemistry prize for single molecular mirror creation",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/kagan-and-soai-win-2026-nobel-chemistry-prize-for-single-molecular-12616854",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-07T10:47:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/07/kagan-and-soai-win-2026-nobel-chemistry-prize-for-single-molecular-mirror-creation"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, scientists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for solving a long-standing mystery about how to create a single, molecular mirror image, according to the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. Soai, who is Japanese, and Kagan, a Frenchman, shared the prestigious honor, expressing their excitement and gratitude for the recognition. This discovery is crucial for pharmaceutical manufacturing, as many drug molecules exist in two mirror-image forms, with one variant often causing harmful side effects while the other possesses therapeutic benefits. The Nobel Foundation noted that achieving homochirality—the exclusive use of one molecular version—has puzzled chemists for over a century. The laureates will present their medals to King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, and celebrate their achievement at a banquet at Stockholm City Hall. They will also share a prize amount of 12 million Swedish crowns (USD 1.2 million).",
  "summary": "This year’s prize recognised discoveries showing how chemical reactions can favour a single molecular mirror image, a breakthrough crucial to pharmaceutical manufacturing.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Kagan and Soai win 2026 Nobel chemistry prize for single molecular mirror creation",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/kagan-and-soai-win-2026-nobel-chemistry-prize-for-single-molecular",
        "published": "2026-10-07T10:47:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}