Award from Prague: Chirality Medal 2014 goes to Manfred Reetz
Manfred Reetz, Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung and Hans Meerwein Research Professor at the Philipps-Universität Marburg, will be awarded the Chirality Medal 2014. He will receive it during the Chirality Conference (26th International Symposium on Chiral Discrimination , ISCD -26) that will take place in Prague from 27th to 30th July. Manfred Reetz will give a lecture during the award ceremony. He will talk about Directed Evolution as a Method for the Generation of Enantioselective Enzymes.
Right hand, left hand
Chirality is a Greek made-up word meaning as much as handedness. For chemists, this term is commonplace. It refers to a phenomenon that describes two substances that are chemically completely identical but still have completely different modes of action. This is due to the mirror image construction of chiral substances that relate to each other like the left and right hand.
For chemists, chirality is a very interesting phenomenon: How is it possible, for example, to create only one of two mirror-image versions in the synthesis of medical drugs? Researchers are discussing these and similar questions at the Chirality 2014. Apart from Manfred Reetz there will be more chemists from the Kohlenforschung attending the conference. Manuel Alcarazo will give his talk as one of the “Talented Young Scientists".
More information on Chirality 2014 can be found on the website of the conference.