Chirality: a look into Nature's mirror

Both the DNA double helix and Fusilli pasta come in a spiral shape. But when you buy a pack of Fusilli pasta, you will probably get the same number of left- and right-handed spirals with (mostly?) identical tastes. The double helix of natural DNA is quite different: it only ever forms right-handed spirals. This is because its molecular building blocks are fundamentally asymmetric. Just like human hands, these molecular blocks exist in two forms that are perfect mirror images of each other, but not identical. How can one imagine this? Think about trying to put a left glove onto your right hand and you will notice that despite the mirrored shape, it just does not fit. This form of mirror asymmetry is called chirality and can be found in many objects in the natural world and in some cases, like the DNA helix, the mirrored form does not even exist in Nature and can only be synthesized in scientific laboratories! In this session of Pint of Science, we will explore the science behind chirality and uncover its many forms on the smallest and the largest scale: from the genetic code to the pasta on your plate!

 

The talk will be delivered in English. Q&A in French/English