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Published online 22 June 2000 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news000622-10
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A handle on handedness
Why are the molecules of life not ambidextrous? The interaction of light with magnetic fields might explain why life has a mysterious twist at its core, reports Philip Ball.
The most important molecular building blocks of life -- amino acids and sugars -- come in left-handed and right-handed varieties which, like a pair of gloves, are mirror images of one another. Living organisms use only left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars.
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