Chirality

Definition

Chirality in plain English

Chirality just means "handedness." Look at your two hands: they're mirror images, but if you try to lay one perfectly on top of the other (palms down), the thumbs point opposite ways — you can never make them match up. A chiral molecule is exactly like that: it and its mirror-image twin are built from the same parts but can't be superimposed, no matter how you rotate them. This matters in biology because your body is picky about handedness — one version of a molecule can be a life-saving drug while its mirror twin does nothing or even harms you.

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