Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to three scientists for their work ‘concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics’
- Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to optogenetics.
- Optogenetics uses light-sensitive proteins and precisely delivered light to activate or silence selected nerve cells, helping researchers study brain circuits and behavior.
- Hegemann and Nagel’s work on the light-sensing alga Chlamydomonas led to the identification of channelrhodopsin, which Deisseroth later applied to nerve cells.
- Researchers are testing optogenetics for possible medical uses, including restoring vision and treating neurological conditions, but broad clinical use remains uncertain.
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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 […]
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Nobel Prize awarded for groundbreaking research on brain cells study
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to scientists who developed a new technique to study brain cells. American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel developed optogenetics, which uses light to control individual nerve cells in the brain.The Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institutet said Mr Deisseroth, 54; Mr Hegemann, 71; and Mr Nagel, 73, had been selected for their "discoveries concerning ligh…
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