Nobel Foundation

Asahi Shimbun reports that a Japanese researcher has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of asymmetric autocatalytic reactions, a process in which a chemical reaction catalyzes its own replication while favoring one mirror-image form of a molecule. The finding is considered foundational for understanding how biological molecules came to exist in a single handedness. Congratulations and discussion of the science are spreading widely across Japan.

Scientists from the United States and Germany have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on how light can be used to study and control brain activity. The findings, honoured by the Nobel Assembly in Stockholm, are widely recognised as foundational for optogenetics, a technique that lets researchers switch specific neurons on and off with light and has transformed modern neuroscience.

A Nobel Prize winner in physics has expressed pride over their pioneering contribution to artificial intelligence, work that helped lay foundations for modern machine learning. The remarks come as the physics prize's link to AI continues to draw attention and debate within the scientific community about the field's direction.

French chemist Henri Kagan is trending internationally as the Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded for work on mirror-image molecules. Kagan, an emeritus professor at Paris-Sud University, is regarded as a foundational figure in asymmetric catalysis, the field that makes single mirror-image forms of molecules used widely in pharmaceuticals. Searches are spiking in France, Germany and Sweden as coverage revisits the science of chirality and its history.

Anniversaries are marking Gerald Edelman, the American biologist born on this day in 1917. Edelman shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Rodney Porter for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies, work that laid the foundation for modern immunology. He later turned to neuroscience, developing the theory of neuronal group selection. Science writers are recalling his dual legacy across immunology and brain research.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to scientists who explained why life is asymmetric — why the molecules of living organisms exist predominantly in one mirror-image form rather than the other. The announcement is drawing attention across science communities, with coverage highlighting how fundamental the chirality of life is to chemistry and biology, and readers celebrating a prize devoted to a deep, foundational question.

Chemists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a breakthrough on 'mirror image' molecules, the principle of chirality in which molecules exist as non-superimposable mirror images. The finding is seen as foundational for stereochemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals, where a molecule's handedness can determine whether a drug heals or harms.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists who developed optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control nerve cells. New Scientist reports the trio were honoured for a method that has transformed neuroscience research, allowing precise manipulation of brain cells in laboratory studies. The award continues the Nobel committee's tradition of recognising foundational experimental tools in medicine.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control nerve cells. The method allows researchers to observe how neurons shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain, and it has become a foundational tool in modern neuroscience research.

The U.S. National Science Foundation reports that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded for discoveries made with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the detector embedded in Antarctic ice that NSF supports. IceCube has been credited with detecting high-energy neutrinos from beyond the solar system, opening a new window on the universe.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been announced as winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine. The three researchers are known for their work on light-sensitive proteins, the foundation of optogenetics, a technique that allows scientists to control brain cells with light. The announcement is drawing attention across the scientific community and news outlets worldwide.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has published a feature profiling twenty Nobel Prize winners whose work reshaped modern biochemistry. The roundup highlights landmark discoveries in molecular biology and their lasting influence on research and medicine, offering readers an overview of the scientists behind the field's biggest breakthroughs.