From the lab to the market

Technically speaking, both our hands are identical: each with one thumb and four fingers. But when it comes to how these five digits are arranged, the right and left hands differ. It’s something you learn even before starting school: on your right hand, your thumb is on the left – and vice versa. So no matter how much you turn or rotate your hands, they will never look exactly the same. “This phenomenon is known as chirality,” explains ETH researcher Carin Lightner. “And it can also be seen in molecules: the same atoms, but a different orientation.”