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The following is from a Nature Briefing email that I received today, which I am sharing the link to the Nature Chemistry that was made freely available by Springer Nature: -

A couple of weeks ago, we told you (in a story about left- and right-handed molecules) that the drug thalidomide showed to tragic effect why it’s important to separate molecules’ mirror-image forms: one version is a sedative, the other causes congenital disabilities when taken during pregnancy.

While technically true — the different versions do have different effects — Editorial Director of the Physics & Chemistry Nature journals (and former editor of Nature Chemistry) Stuart Cantrill alerted us that the real-world implications have become something of a chemistry urban myth. “In the body, the two forms will interconvert,” notes Cantrill. “So even if you give the ‘safe’ mirror image form it will convert into the version that is not safe (well, you’ll get a 50:50 mixture) and biological studies confirm that it leads to embryonic defects just as if you gave the mixed versions in the first place.” The persistence of the tale was explored in detail in Nature Chemistry in 2010 by chemist Michelle Francl (who blew our minds in January with her revelation that the secret to a great cup of tea is a pinch of salt).