{
  "id": 12318131,
  "title": "California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/california-scientist-wins-a-nobel-prize-then-makes-school-lunches-for-12318131",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-06T06:20:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-california-scientist-nobel-prize-school.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dr. Karl Deisseroth, a 54-year-old scientist at Stanford University, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking work in optogenetics. This novel field merges genetic techniques with light to control and observe neurons in living brains, thus shedding light on the inner workings of the human brain. The award came as a surprise, as Deisseroth, known for his nocturnal nature, was in the midst of a busy night of interviews and well-wishers at his home in Stanford. Upon receiving the call from the Nobel Assembly in Stockholm, Deisseroth struggled to form words but quickly regained the ability to communicate via remote interviews. His wife, Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, a fellow HHMI investigator and Stanford pediatric neuro-oncologist, was aware of his achievement from earlier that night. The scientist, a physician-scientist with a focus on psychiatry and autism, expressed his gratitude for the recognition, emphasizing the potential for hope in treating conditions like depression and autism. However, his immediate priority was ensuring his children had a nutritious breakfast before heading to school, as they were just waking up.",
  "summary": "Dr. Karl Deisseroth spent hours fielding congratulatory calls after learning early Monday that he had won a Nobel Prize for medicine for helping to open a new field of brain science called optogenetics.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "US, German scientists win Nobel medicine prize for optogenetics breakthrough",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/us-german-scientists-win-nobel-medicine-prize-for-optogenetics",
        "published": "2026-10-05T12:02:57.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SABC News",
        "title": "US, German scientists win Nobel medicine prize for optogenetics",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/us-german-scientists-win-nobel-medicine-prize-for-optogenetics-12184063",
        "published": "2026-10-05T16:04:32.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/california-scientist-wins-a-nobel-prize-then-makes-school-lunches-for",
        "published": "2026-10-06T00:13:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/california-scientist-wins-a-nobel-prize-then-makes-school-lunches-for-12295289",
        "published": "2026-10-06T04:07:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}