Japan's researcher Soai wins Nobel chemistry prize with France's Kagan

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announces Kenso Soai (R) and Henri Kagan as the winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry during a press conference in Stockholm on Oct. 7, 2026. (Kyodo)

Kenso Soai, a professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science, attends a press conference at the university in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 2026, after receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Soai and French researcher Henri Kagan shared the prize for the discovery of "non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said earlier in the day. (Kyodo)

Kenso Soai (R), a professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science, attends a press conference at the university in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 2026, after receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Soai and French researcher Henri Kagan shared the prize for the discovery of "non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said earlier in the day. (Kyodo)

Kenso Soai (C), a professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science, attends a press conference at the university in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 2026, after receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Soai and French researcher Henri Kagan shared the prize for the discovery of "non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said earlier in the day. (Kyodo)

Japanese organic chemist Kenso Soai attends a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 2026. (Kyodo)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds phone talks with Japanese organic chemist Kenso Soai at the premier's office in Tokyo on Oct. 7, 2026, after he won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (Kyodo)

Japanese organic chemist Kenso Soai and French researcher Henri Kagan won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for their work to solve the chemical mystery surrounding mirror-image molecules, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

Soai, 76, is a professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science in Japan and Kagan, 95, is a professor emeritus at the Universite Paris-Sud in France.

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Japan's researcher Soai wins Nobel chemistry prize with France's Kagan

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