Nature has some peculiar ways of creating molecules. Many molecules, such as DNA, proteins, and sugars, have a property called chirality. Basically, chiral molecules are molecules that are shaped such that they can’t be superimposed on their mirror image.
Scientists refer to this property as “handedness,” and it’s a great analogy for helping the rest of us understand chirality. If you put your right hand on top of your left hand, both hands palm down, they don’t match up. No matter how you twist and turn your hands, you won’t get one to perfectly cover the other.
Of course, molecules don’t have hands. But they do have shapes, and those shapes are very important when it comes to, among other things, creating drugs.
