SRINAGAR: Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a technique that has transformed the study of the brain.
BREAKING NEWS
The 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” https://t.co/pkDDEBWtkz— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2026
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute announced the award on Monday, recognising the three scientists for research that made it possible to use light to control and study specific nerve cells.
Their work has provided researchers with a powerful tool to examine how the activity of individual neurons contributes to functions including memory, emotions and behaviour in living brains.
Hegemann’s research helped establish how certain microorganisms detect light through specialised proteins, while Nagel’s subsequent work demonstrated that these proteins could function as ion channels controlled by light.
Their findings brought together research in microbiology and membrane biology with neuroscience, laying the foundations for optogenetics, which enables scientists to manipulate selected neurons with light and study their role in brain function.
The technique has since become an important tool in neuroscience, allowing researchers to investigate neural circuits with a level of precision that was previously difficult to achieve.
