London: American scientist Karl Deisseroth, and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have jointly won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced on Monday.
Deisseroth is a professor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Hegemann teaches at Humboldt University of Berlin, and Nagel is attached with University of Würzburg, Germany.
Their works on optogenetics have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience, the Nobel committee said in a release.
“The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 is awarded for optogenetics — a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain. Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga. Karl Deisseroth transformed the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. The Laureates have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience,” the release elaborated.
The trio’s exemplary work has given scientists a new way to understand the brain.
Instead of only seeing which parts of the brain are active, researchers can now switch specific groups of nerve cells on and observe what happens.
The technique has helped scientists identify groups of connected nerve cells, called nerve circuits, involved in specific memories, feelings and behaviours linked to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
It is also being explored as a way to restore sight in people with visual impairment.
