Nobel recognises researchers whose work lets scientists control nerve cells with light
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel share the 2026 Physiology or Medicine prize for discoveries underpinning optogenetics.
The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discovering a molecular switch for nerve cells.
Their work underpins optogenetics, a method that uses light to switch individual nerve cells on or off. Researchers use it to investigate how specific cell types contribute to brain function and behaviours including learning, fear, addiction and movement.
Deisseroth is a professor at Stanford University, Hegemann is a neuroscience professor at Humboldt University of Berlin, and Nagel is a biophysics professor at the University of Würzburg. They will share a prize of 12 million Swedish crowns.
The Nobel Assembly said optogenetics had changed understanding of the brain. Nobel committee chair Per Svenningsson said the method creates opportunities for mapping the brain, while Assembly secretary-general Thomas Perlmann said it allows researchers to control nerve-cell activity in a living brain.
Researchers hope the method could enable more precise auditory-nerve stimulation in cochlear implants. The source describes this as a potential application, not an established clinical benefit.
