Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 - Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

<p>English Podcast Starts at 00:00:00</p><p>Bengali Podcast Starts at 00:53:06</p><p>Hindi Podcast Starts at 01:10:34</p><p>Danish Podcast Starts at 01:30:30</p><p><br></p><p>Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2026. Wed. 7 Oct 2026. &lt;https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2026/summary/&gt;</p><p>Press release: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2026/press-release/</p><p>Popular information: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2026/popular-information/</p><p>Advanced information: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2026/advanced-information/</p><p><br></p><p>🎙️ <strong>Welcome to </strong><em><strong>Revise and Resubmit</strong></em><strong>.</strong></p><p>There are moments in science when a discovery doesn&#39;t merely answer a question. It changes the question itself. And today&#39;s story begins with something almost impossibly small: a tiny imbalance between two forms of the same molecule. 🧪✨</p><p>On <strong>7 October 2026</strong>, the <strong>Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences</strong> awarded the <strong>Nobel Prize in Chemistry</strong> to <strong>Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai</strong>, for their discoveries concerning <strong>non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis</strong>.</p><p>🏆 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is among the world&#39;s most prestigious scientific honours. And this year&#39;s work takes us into a fascinating world where molecules can, in effect, <strong>help decide their own future</strong>.</p><p>Kagan, born in <strong>1930 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France</strong>, discovered the remarkable phenomenon of <strong>non-linear effects</strong>. His work showed that the stereochemical purity of a chemical product need not simply mirror that of the catalyst used to create it. A small molecular advantage could become something much larger.</p><p>Then comes Soai.</p><p>Born in <strong>1950 in Hiroshima, Japan</strong>, Kenso Soai discovered what became known as the <strong>Soai reaction</strong>, one of the most striking examples of asymmetric autocatalysis. Here, a chiral product can catalyse the formation of more of itself while dramatically amplifying an initially tiny imbalance. 🔄🧬</p><p>And suddenly, chemistry becomes almost like a mystery novel.</p><p>A molecule begins with the faintest hint of preference. Then that preference is repeated. Amplified. Reinforced. Until one molecular form dominates.</p><p>Why does that matter?</p><p>Bec