Japan's Kenso Soai Named Co-Winner of 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo, Oct. 7 (Jiji Press)--The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be awarded to Kenso Soai, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, and Henri Kagan, who is affiliated with Universite Paris-Sud in France.

The two scientists have achieved breakthroughs that are expected to provide clues to the origins of amino acids and other molecules that comprise life, as well as lead to new methods for producing pharmaceuticals.

Soai, 76, is the 10th Japanese winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, following last year's winner, Susumu Kitagawa, 75-year-old professor at Kyoto University. He is the 31st individual of Japanese origin to win a Nobel Prize.

During a phone interview with the academy following the announcement, Soai said that he was very excited to be selected for the prize, adding that it was the most exciting day of his life.

Soai and Kagan were selected for "the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]