Optogenetics researchers receive 2026 Nobel medicine prize
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were recognised for work using light to control neurones, a technique that may inform future research into several conditions.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for pioneering work in optogenetics, France 24 reports.
Deisseroth is a US psychiatrist and neurologist; Hegemann and Nagel are German scientists. Their work helped establish a method that uses light to control nerve-cell activity.
Optogenetics allows researchers to stimulate selected cells with light and study their activity in an otherwise intact brain. The research drew on studies of Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga that moves towards light.
The technique may support future advances in research into dementia, depression and blindness. The award coverage reports no specific treatment or clinical outcome.
