Chirality and Its Molecular Significance Chirality is a geometric property where a molecule cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, much like human hands. These mirror-image pairs, called enantiomers, share identical physical and chemical properties in a standard environment, but they interact entirely differently within the highly chiral environment of the human body. Historically, due to manufacturing limitations, many drugs were synthesized as "racemates"—50:50 mixtures of both enantiomers. However, within biological systems, one enantiomer (the eutomer) typically drives the desired therapeutic effect, while its mirror image (the distomer) may be inactive, less potent, or even dangerously toxic.

The Thalidomide Tragedy and Regulatory Reform The devastating consequences of molecular handedness were brought to light by the thalidomide  ...