Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for optogenetics discovery

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel. The prize recognizes their groundbreaking discoveries in optogenetics, a method that allows researchers to control nerve cells using light.

The foundation of this technology lies in the discovery of channelrhodopsin, a protein found in the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas. In the early 2000s, researchers identified that when this protein is illuminated by blue light, it opens a channel that allows charged ions to flow into the cell, creating an electrical impulse.

Karl Deisseroth successfully introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into the nerve cells of rats and later mice, enabling the triggering of nerve signals through light illumination. This advancement has allowed scientists to map neural circuits and observe how nerve cells shape memories, feelings, and behaviors in living brains, providing critical insights into neurological and psychiatric disorders.