Nobel chemistry prize goes to Henri Kagan, Kenso Soai

France's Henri Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai won the Nobel chemistry prize on Wednesday for work that helped explain how one mirror-image form of some molecules can emerge in nature.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the pair were honoured “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”.

The academy said the discoveries helped solve a long-standing puzzle known as homochirality, in which only one version of mirrored amino acid variants is found in the proteins in the body's cells.

Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said Kagan and Soai had provided a solution to a chemical mystery more than a century old. The jury said their discoveries had been decisive for chemists designing reactions used to manufacture pharmaceuticals.

The Nobel award includes a diploma, a gold medal and 12 million kronor, or about $1.2 million, to be shared when there is more than one winner in a discipline. The laureates are due to receive their prizes on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel.