hard to swallow...

To those without a science background, the concept of chirality is a difficult one to grasp. The idea that molecules can be either left or right-handed comes a something of a surprise, as does the knowledge that naturally occurring amino acids are all left-handed.

And just as left or right-handedness in people is determined in the womb - as early as 10 weeks after conception - the left-hand bias towards life on earth may have been decided more than 5bn years ago during the birth of our sun. Astronomers believe that comets were formed in the sun's birth-cloud. The left-handed molecules were incorporated into comets and found their way to earth as they struck the young planet. Indeed, many scientists believe that life could only have developed on Earth because of the bias towards left-handed molecules.

You would think, then, that life today would be a bit less biased against left-handed people. Although we sinistrals are no longer viewed as children of the devil, we are seriously disadvantaged living in a world populated by a majority of right-handers. The design of simple equipment such as rulers and scissors up to complex items like computer keyboards causes our brains to struggle to learn 'the other way round'.

This may slow down our ability to learn and increase our susceptibility to industrial injuries, such as RSI - particularly ironic as left-handers are said to be more creative than those of the opposite persuasion. And although an early study suggesting that we have a shorter lifespan than right-handers has now been discredited, a 1991 study of death certificates showed that significantly more left-handers than right-handers died in accidents.

We are also more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases, inflammatory bowel conditions, such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, as well as diabetes and asthma. We may be in the minority, accounting for only around 10% of the population, but we are in distinguished company: Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix and Winston Churchill were all left-handed. And so, it now appears, is God.