Life on Earth exclusively uses left-handed amino acids despite right-handed versions existing in nature
Biological life on Earth is almost exclusively homochiral, utilizing only left-handed amino acids despite the fact that both versions can be created in equal amounts chemically.
Amino acids exist in two mirror-image forms, known as L- and D-isomers, yet every living organism on Earth exclusively uses the L-form to build proteins. This biological preference is a mystery because non-biological chemical synthesis produces an even 50-50 mix, known as a racemic mixture. If a single 'right-handed' amino acid is incorporated into a protein, the entire structure can fail to fold correctly.
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