Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the puzzle of how one mirror-image molecule comes to dominate

7 October 2026

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Henri Kagan of the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced it in Stockholm on 7 October 2026. The prize recognises their solving of a puzzle about how one mirror-image form of a molecule can come to dominate. Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said they solved a century-old mystery of how homochirality can emerge spontaneously. The prize of 12 million Swedish kronor is shared.