Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel for Optogenetics

STOCKHOLM, Oct 5 : The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to US scientist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced Monday.

The three scientists were recognized for discoveries that laid the foundation for optogenetics, a technique that allows scientists to control the activity of nerve cells using light. The method has transformed research into the brain and nervous system by giving researchers a way to activate or silence specific nerve cells with unprecedented precision.

Hegemann and Nagel made the discoveries that provided the biological foundation for the technique by identifying channelrhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein with unique properties that can make cells respond to light.

Their research showed that when channelrhodopsin was introduced into different types of cells, the cells could be made sensitive to light. This opened the possibility of using light as a tool to control the activity of cells that would normally not respond to it.

Deisseroth subsequently took the breakthrough into the field of neuroscience. He introduced the gene responsible for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells taken from rats and demonstrated that exposure to blue light could trigger nerve signals in those cells.

He then advanced the technique further by developing methods to use light to control nerve cells in the brains of living mice.

The resulting approach became known as optogenetics, combining genetics with optical technology to manipulate the activity of selected nerve cells. Instead of relying on electrical stimulation, which can affect many nearby cells, optogenetics allows researchers to target genetically defined populations of neurons and control them with pulses of light.

The Nobel Assembly said the method has rapidly gained global impact and has become an important tool for studying how the brain works.

By allowing researchers to switch specific groups of nerve cells on or off, optogenetics has enabled scientists to investigate how neural circuits control behavior, movement, memory and other brain functions. The technique has also contributed to research into neurological and psychiatric disorders by helping scientists understand the activity of specific neural pathways.

The discoveries recognized by this year’s Nobel Prize therefore represent a progression from the identification of a light-sensitive protein to the development of a powerful method for controlling neural activity in living animals.

The Nobel Assembly said the laureates’ work demonstrated how a discovery in basic biology can ultimately provide researchers with an entirely new way to investigate one of the most complex systems in nature — the brain