Collaborative research between the lab of Mark Sadgrove (Tokyo University of Science) and Hiromi Okamoto (Institute for Molecular Science). Chiral objects are important in fields like drug development because their interactions with biological systems depend on handedness. Researchers from Tokyo University of Science, Institute for Molecular Science, and Seoul National University used circularly polarized light to selectively manipulate nanosized chiral objects. By confining circularly polarized light in an ultra-thin optical fiber, they transported metallic chiral nanoparticles based on handedness, thereby enabling chirality control at near-molecular scales, opening possibilities for applications involving chiral systems, including drug development.
This research was published online in Nature Communications on April 16, 2026.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71585-8