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2026年诺贝尔化学奖表彰了控制“镜像分子”的关键发现。这项研究说明，分子形状为何会影响药物制造，以及基础科学如何在数十年后产生实际价值。

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A left hand and a right hand look similar, but one cannot be placed exactly over the other. Some molecules have the same kind of difference. On October 7, the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to French scientist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese scientist Kenso Soai for helping chemists understand and control these molecular mirror images.

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左手和右手看起来相似，却无法完全重合。有些分子也存在同样的差别。10月7日，2026年诺贝尔化学奖授予法国科学家亨利·卡甘和日本科学家硤合宪三，以表彰他们帮助化学家理解并控制这些分子镜像的研究。

This problem matters because shape can change how a substance works. The human body is full of structures that recognize one molecular form better than the other. Two mirror forms may contain the same atoms, yet they can smell different or produce different effects in the body. Drug makers therefore need reliable ways to make the form they actually want.

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这个问题之所以重要，是因为形状可以改变一种物质的作用方式。人体中充满了能够更好识别某一种分子形态的结构。两种镜像形态可能含有相同的原子，却能产生不同的气味，或在人体中产生不同作用。因此，制药人员需要可靠的方法来制造真正需要的那一种形态。

For many years, laboratory reactions usually produced an equal mixture of both forms. Kagan found that a small imbalance in a special substance used to guide a reaction could grow into a much larger imbalance in the result. This was called a nonlinear effect. It showed that chemistry did not always have to stay evenly divided between the two sides.

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多年来，实验室反应通常会产生数量相等的两种形态。卡甘发现，用来引导反应的一种特殊物质如果存在很小的不平衡，最终结果中的差距可能被大幅放大。这被称为非线性效应。它表明，化学反应不一定始终平均分成两边。

Soai later discovered a reaction in which a product helped make more of itself. In his best-known experiment, a very small difference at the start became far larger as the reaction continued. This self-copying process, known as autocatalysis, offered a possible chemical path toward the one-sided molecules common in living things. The Nobel committee said the two scientists had provided a solution to a mystery more than a century old.

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后来，硤合发现了一种反应，其产物可以帮助生成更多同样的产物。在他最著名的实验中，起始时极小的差别会随着反应持续而大幅扩大。这种被称为自催化的自我复制过程，为生物中常见的单一方向分子提供了一条可能的化学形成路径。诺贝尔委员会表示，两位科学家为一个延续百余年的谜题提供了解答。

Their work has influenced the design of reactions used in modern medicine, materials, and perfumes. It helps researchers choose one molecular form instead of accepting an unwanted mixture. However, the prize does not mean the origin of life’s molecular preference is fully explained. Soai himself said that important questions remain and that more research is needed to understand life.

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他们的研究影响了现代药物、材料和香水所用反应的设计。研究人员由此能选择一种分子形态，而不是接受不需要的混合物。不过，这个奖项并不意味着生命为何偏爱某一种分子形态已经得到完整解释。硤合本人也表示，重要问题依然存在，要理解生命还需要更多研究。

The award also shows why basic science can have practical value long after an experiment begins. Kagan’s main ideas developed in the 1980s, while Soai reported his key reaction in the 1990s. At first, the research dealt with a difficult question about molecular shape. Decades later, it supports safer and more exact chemical design. The story is not simply that one discovery created one medicine. It is that a better way of controlling reactions changed what many scientists could make.

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这个奖项还说明，基础科学可以在实验开始多年后产生实际价值。卡甘的主要思想形成于20世纪80年代，硤合则在90年代报告了关键反应。研究最初处理的是一个困难的分子形状问题，几十年后却支撑着更安全、更精确的化学设计。这个故事并不是某项发现直接创造了一种药物，而是更好的反应控制方法改变了许多科学家能够制造的东西。

新闻来源

• Nobel Prize · The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026
• Reuters · Nobel chemistry prize goes to pair who solved mystery of ‘mirror image’ molecules
• AP · Scientists win chemistry Nobel for discoveries about mirrored molecules that led to many drugs
• Académie des sciences · Henri Kagan membre de l’Académie des sciences et Kenso Soai, lauréats du prix Nobel de chimie 2026
• TBS NEWS DIG · ノーベル化学賞 硤合憲三さん電話インタビュー「生命を理解するために研究をさらに進める必要がある」

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