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Pasteur and the art of chirality

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Louis Pasteur was a scientific giant of the nineteenth century, but, as Joseph Gal asks, was his most famous contribution to the understanding of chemistry — chirality — influenced more by his artistic talents?

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Figure 1: Altin Vercel.

© INSTITUT PASTEUR — MUSÉE PASTEUR

Figure 2: Pasteur's lithograph21 of Charles Chappuis.

© INSTITUT PASTEUR — MUSÉE PASTEUR

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the following individuals for valuable help: B. Hansen at the City University of New York; J. Seeman at the University of Richmond; and D. M. Weil at the University of Colorado.

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  1. Joseph Gal is in the Departments of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA,

    Joseph Gal

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Correspondence to Joseph Gal.

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Gal, J. Pasteur and the art of chirality. Nature Chem 9, 604–605 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2790

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