DOMINANT ANGLE
Berlin sees this Nobel Prize in Chemistry as the solution to a century-old puzzle, explained by the image of the two hands and rooted in the memory of Contergan.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry: Kagan and Soai have provided a solution to a chemical puzzle over a century old, the spontaneous birth of homochirality (Tagesschau).
- 02
The prize, of twelve million Swedish crowns (approximately one million euros), has been increased by one million for the 125th anniversary of the Nobels (DW).
- 03
Tagesschau illustrates the issue with Contergan: one form of thalidomide inhibits inflammation, the other causes damage to the unborn child.
ANALYSIS
Berlin, October 8, 2026. On Wednesday, October 7, Tagesschau, Deutsche Welle, and FAZ reported on the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Frenchman Henri Kagan and Japanese Kenso Soai, announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The prize rewards the "discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis".
The German coverage is primarily educational. Tagesschau starts with the left and right hands: they resemble each other, but are mirror images, and choosing the wrong glove "pinches". The channel explains chirality, a word that literally means "hand character", and provides everyday examples: the main aroma of caraway, whose mirror image smells like mint. It also compares a molecule to a key and its lock: the inverted shape does not fit and can even damage the lock. A second Tagesschau article discusses the honor given to the "coolest experiment" in chemistry.
The topic is linked to health through Contergan. Tagesschau recalls the 1960s scandal: one form of the active ingredient, thalidomide, inhibits inflammation, while the other causes birth defects in the unborn child. The media emphasizes that many modern medications are designed as a single enantiomer, the other variant being ineffective or toxic, and thus avoided.
The committee is quoted by Tagesschau: its president, Heiner Linke, says that the two laureates have provided "a solution to a chemical puzzle over a century old: how homochirality can arise spontaneously". DW and FAZ associate Kagan with the University Paris-Sud and Soai with the Tokyo University of Science, and specify that their work has been crucial for chemists who lay the foundations for the production of medications. Tagesschau mentions that Kagan was born in 1930.
DW adds current events about the ceremony. The prize is worth twelve million Swedish crowns, approximately one million euros, after an increase of one million decided for the 125th anniversary of the Nobels. According to DW, this is the first time a woman has announced the laureates in physics, chemistry, and economics.
FAZ places the prize in Nobel week: Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with American Karl Deisseroth, and Belgian-American physicist Francis Halzen received the physics prize. Last year, the chemistry prize distinguished Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for metal-organic structures. The literature, peace, and economics prizes will be announced in the following days.
