Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to three scientists for their work ‘concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics’
The prize recognizes discoveries that let scientists switch individual nerve cells on and off, a tool now used to map brain circuits.
- On Monday, October 5, 2026, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to US scientist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.
- In the early 2000s, Hegemann and Nagel identified light-sensitive channelrhodopsin proteins in green algae Chlamydomonas; Deisseroth then transformed these algal proteins into a precise light-controlled switch for mammalian nerve cells in 2005.
- The three laureates will share 12 million Swedish kronor, approximately $1.2 million, for developing optogenetics, which the Nobel Assembly said 'makes it possible to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain.'
- Researchers are conducting early-stage clinical trials using optogenetics to restore vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, while Nobel committee member Abdel El Manira noted the impact extends to treating depression, addiction and dementia.
- Over the past 20 years, thousands of laboratories worldwide have adopted optogenetic systems to map brain circuits and study psychiatric and neurological disorders, as the Nobel Assembly stated the three scientists 'have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience.
869 Articles
869 Articles
California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids - WXXV News 25
Karl Deisseroth, one of the three recipients of the 2026 Nobel Prize in medicine, talks to his wife Michelle Monje-Deisseroth at home Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)By NOAH BERGER, TERRY CHEA and ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN STANFORD, California (AP) — Dr. Karl Deisseroth spent hours fielding congratulatory calls after learning early Monday that he had won a...
Trio wins medicine prize for breakthrough in brain research
STOCKHOLM (AP): The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works. Dr Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel carried out research that opened a new field with the wonky name optogenetics, combining light with genes to switch on and off neurons in living brains.
The world's unique optogenetics centre EKFZ in Göttingen was still sceptically looked at in 2023. Tobias Moser explains what his team is doing there – and why the Nobel Prize is now changing everything.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology Went to a Technique That Lets Scientists Control the Brain With Light
Neuroscientific advances follow a pattern of visualizing the brain, measuring its function and then controlling it. Optogenetics may lead to a new era of medical treatment.
Heartwarming moment Nobel winner shares life-changing news with his children
A Stanford neuroscientist shared an incredibly sweet moment with his children after learning he had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Karl Deisseroth was recognised alongside German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their work developing optogenetics, a groundbreaking technique that uses light to control specific nerve cells. But before […]
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
