Why isn't God ambidextrous? All naturally occurring DNA and amino acids for biological life are chiral, that is they have a mirror-image version of the molecule that is not superimposable on the original. Yet, the vast majority of these bio-molecules are L-stereoisomers ("left-handed"). Researchers have speculated that this preference for one handedness over the other may have been caused by spin-polarized electrons. Our group has performed experiments to test this hypothesis, as well as investigate further the topic of how electron spin effects interactions with biological molecules.

An experiment conducted by Joan Dreiling et. al. in our research group found that electron polarization had a significant effect in the breakup of bromocamphor and other camphor-related molecules. Future planned experiments will examine the effect of chiral molecules on the transmission of spin-polarized electrons.