DOMINANT ANGLE
Moscow breaks down the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in simple terms: a mechanism of mirror molecules explained step by step, with pharmacy as an outlet, without any national stake.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The prize was awarded on Wednesday, October 7, to Henri Kagan (University Paris-Sud) and Kenso Soai (University of Science, Tokyo) for nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric synthesis.
- 02
According to Kommersant, researchers were still obtaining the two mirror forms in equal proportions, while only one produces the desired pharmaceutical effect.
- 03
According to Meduza, Chemistry 2025 had honored Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa, and Omar Yaghi for organometallic structures.
ANALYSIS
Moscow, October 8, 2026. The Russian press treats the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry as a scientific explanation, without a national angle. Kommersant headlines "Molecules deprived of reflection in the mirror" and specifies that the prize was awarded on Wednesday, October 7, to Frenchman Henri Kagan, from the University of Paris-Sud, and Japanese Kenso Soai, from the University of Tokyo's science department, for "the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis".
The daily explains that all amino acids exist in two mirror-image variants, while most living organisms contain only one: this is homochirality, from the Greek "same" and "hand". Until now, researchers obtained both variants in equal proportions in a test tube, which posed a problem in pharmacy, as only one of the two produces the desired effect. The laureates have enabled reactions "leading targetedly to homochirality". The newspaper quotes a statement evoking a "chemical enigma over a century old" and "simply stunning reactions". It presents these ideas, formulated at the end of the last century, as crucial for the production of new medicines.
Meduza emphasizes nuance: practical methods for separating isomers already existed. The laureates' contribution is to explain how an excess of one form can spontaneously arise in a reaction. In nature, this excess is almost exclusively found in compounds synthesized by enzymes: natural sugars are all right-handed (D), amino acids are left-handed (L). It was long considered impossible to obtain such an excess in ordinary reactions; when products can shift the equilibrium, autocatalysis favors an isomer.
Meduza also puts the prize in the calendar: in 2025, chemistry had distinguished Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa, and Omar Yaghi for organometallic structures; literature will be announced on October 8, peace on October 9 in Oslo, and economics on October 12.
In the available excerpts, neither of the two texts dwells on the age of the laureates or French or Japanese national pride: the coverage remains didactic, focused on the chemical mechanism and its pharmaceutical use.
