An international team of scientists led by Professor Yossi Paltiel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Ron Naaman of the Weizmann Institute has discovered a physical mechanism explaining why living organisms choose only one of the two mirror-image forms of molecules. This was reported by Ixbt.com reports .
Many molecules essential for life, such as amino acids and sugars, exist in two mirror-image forms called enantiomers. Despite being chemically identical, biological systems use almost exclusively one type of amino acids and the opposite chirality for sugars. This phenomenon, known as homochirality, has been one of the greatest puzzles in science.
The study authors suggest that the cause may not lie in the molecules themselves, but in the way electrons pass through them. When an electron moves through a chiral molecule, its spin (intrinsic quantum moment) interacts differently with the molecular structure for mirror-image forms. This leads to different dynamics for electron transport and interaction with the magnetic environment for the two enantiomers.
Theoretical calculations and experiments showed that spin-dependent effects cause small but measurable differences in the behavior of mirror-image molecules. These differences manifest only in dynamics and accumulate over time, leading to the dominance of one form in biological systems.
This discovery opens a new direction in studying the origin of life. The research proves that not only chemical but also physical processes played a decisive role in selecting chirality. Even a minimal advantage of one form in interaction with the environment can lead to the global dominance of that form.
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