Many drugs have mirror chemical structures, one helpful and the other harmful – a Nobel-winning discovery allows chemists to make either on demand

From thalidomide to resveratrol, molecules with the exact same chemical properties can have drastically different effects in the body depending on how they’re arranged in space.

By: Sajish Mathew, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 7, 2026

Words: 1,188

Last Updated: 1 week, 3 days ago

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By Sajish Mathew, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

The effects a drug or chemical compound have on the body depend on how its atoms are arranged in space. Some compounds have a dark twin with the same molecular formula but different 3D structure – and this can have consequences for what they do or don’t do in the body.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to two researchers who developed a chemical process …

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