2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Honors Scientists Who Made Optogenetics Possible
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded Monday, Oct. 5, to American scientist Karl Deisseroth and German researchers Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries that made it possible to control nerve-cell activity with light. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet recognized the three scientists “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels […]
On October 5, the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel. The trio of scientists will each receive one-third of the 12 million Swedish kronor prize, totaling 4 million kronor.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet recognized the laureates for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. These discoveries paved the way for optogenetics, a technique that utilizes light to control nerve-cell activity.
Karl Deisseroth hails from America, while Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel are both German researchers. The Nobel Prize honors their collective work in making optogenetics possible, a method that has since revolutionized the field of neuroscience.
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