Nobel Medicine Prize 2026: Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel honoured for groundbreaking optogenetics work

The Nobel medicine prize was awarded Monday to US psychiatrist and neurologist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their pioneering work in the field of optogeneticsOptogenetics involves controlling nerve signals with light and helps researchers understand how specific cell types contribute to behaviours like learning fear addiction and movementThe trio were honoured for their discovery of a molecular switch for nerve cells the Nobel Assembly saidUsing light researchers are now able to switch individual neural circuits on or off in a brainThey have been able to reveal neural circuits governing specific memories feelings and behaviours relevant for neurological and psychiatric disordersIn clinical medicine the method is being used in attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment and may one day lead to treatments for disorders such as Parkinsons disease and epilepsyOptogenetics provides opportunities for mapping the brain in a way that we could once only dream of Per Svenningsson chair of the Nobel committee said in a statementOptogenetics has fundamentally altered our understanding of the brain Every day brings new discoveries helping to solve one of humanitys great mysteries how our incredible brain works the Nobel Assembly saidThe secretary general of the assembly Thomas Perlmann told reporters he was able to reach the three laureates by phone to break the newsThat was great to talk to them I first called Deisseroth he was very tired when he answered He was definitely asleep but he woke up he saidIlluminationIn the early 2000s Hegemann and Nagel were examining why a singlecelled alga was able to swim toward a light sourceThey discovered an algal protein with unique properties called channelrhodopsin found on the surface of the cellWhen illuminated by blue light a channel opens through the proteinCharged ions then flow into the cell creating an electrical impulse They found that any cell they put the protein in became light sensitiveDeisseroth then introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells from ratsBy illuminating the cells with blue light he was able to trigger a nerve signalHe published his breakthrough in 2005 and two years later made the lightcontrolled switch for nerve cells work in the brains of living miceIn 2021 Deisseroth and Hegemann won the Lasker Prize for their work in the field often considered a precursor to the NobelDeisseroth 54 is a professor at Stanford University in the US while Hegemann 71 is a neuroscience professor at Humboldt University of BerlinNagel 73 is a biophysics professor at the University of WurzburgThe Nobel prize for physics will be announced on Tuesday followed by the chemistry prize on Wednesday and the literature prize on ThursdaySome pundits have suggested that for literature the Swedish Academy could follow up last years award to Hungarys Laszlo Krasznahorkai with a woman writer possibly from Central or Latin AmericaArgentine author Samanta Schweblin 48 could be one such pick literary critic Lina Kalmteg told AFPAll eyes on peacePerhaps the most keenly anticipated award is that due on Friday the peace prize the only Nobel to be awarded in OsloThis year some experts have suggested the jury could choose a laureate who enjoys broad consensus after last years winner Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado stirred controversyAmong possible laureates this year are a joint prize to Save the Children and Mykola Kuleba a Ukrainian childrens rights activist campaigning for the return of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia from occupied territoriesOthers include Sudans Emergency Response Rooms ERR a vast network of volunteers risking their lives to help people facing the double threat of war and hunger and the Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ after the deadliest year on record for the profession in 2025The economics prize wraps up the Nobel season on October 12This years laureates will receive their prizes a diploma a gold medal and a USD 12million cheque on December 10 the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the prizes creator scientist Alfred NobelThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever