Nobel Medicine Prize awarded to 3 scientists for optogenetics development
The 2026 Nobel Prize season opened on Monday with the Medicine Prize being awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their research into light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The prize was announced at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, kicking off Nobels week. Their work was lauded by the committee “for discoveries leading to optogenetics, which makes it possible to…
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for their groundbreaking research into light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The prestigious honor was announced at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, marking the opening of Nobels week. The Nobel Committee praised their discoveries, stating that they "make it possible to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain."
This innovative method is now being utilized globally to unravel the complexities of the brain. The committee also announced that the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences would follow over the course of the week. Each of the six prizes is valued at 12 million Swedish kronor (approximately US$1.2 million).
The Nobel ceremonies will take place on December 10, Alfred Nobel's death anniversary, with the Peace Prize ceremony held in Oslo. Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to American scientists Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Japanese scientist Shimon Sakaguchi for their work on the immune system.
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