{
  "id": 13652568,
  "title": "Berlin to BITS Pilani: How Nobel-winning Optogenetics connects to parasite research in Hyderabad",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/berlin-to-bits-pilani-how-nobel-winning-optogenetics-connects-to",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-11T05:44:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/berlin-to-bits-pilani-how-nobel-winning-optogenetics-connects-to-parasite-research-in-hyderabad/article71570522.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel, has reignited interest in the field of optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control and investigate biological processes. For Nishith Gupta, a professor at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, and founder of the Intracellular Parasite Education and Research Labs (iPEARL), the Nobel recognition holds personal significance, as his research on intracellular parasites like Toxoplasma gondii would have benefited from these discoveries. Optogenetics, pioneered by Hegemann and Nagel, involves using light-sensitive proteins to control specific cells or biological processes. Gupta’s work, which focuses on understanding how Toxoplasma gondii interacts with its host, has utilized optogenetics to study the parasite’s signaling mechanisms, such as how it enters cells, moves, and exits. This research, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 2013, demonstrates the broader applications of optogenetics beyond neuroscience, extending into the study of infectious diseases.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Hindu - Sci-Tech",
        "title": "Berlin to BITS Pilani: How Nobel-winning Optogenetics connects to parasite research in Hyderabad",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/berlin-to-bits-pilani-how-nobel-winning-optogenetics-connects-to-13656306",
        "published": "2026-10-11T05:54:49.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}