The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet announced on Monday that Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel were honoured for their work on optogenetics. This technique allows researchers to control nerve cells using light. Their discoveries involved light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a powerful tool for investigating neural circuits that shape memories, emotions, and behaviour.
The journey to optogenetics began with research by Hegemann and Nagel on Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga that swims towards light. In the early 2000s, they identified channelrhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein that forms a channel in the cell membrane. When exposed to blue light, the channel opens, allowing charged ions to flow into the cell and generate an electrical impulse.
Hegemann and Nagel showed that transferring channelrhodopsin into other types of cells could make those cells sensitive to light. Karl Deisseroth then introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into rat nerve cells and demonstrated that blue light could trigger a neural signal. He published this breakthrough in 2005 and, two years later, demonstrated that the light-controlled system could work in the brains of living mice.
Deisseroth's work paved the way for optogenetics, transforming neuroscience by allowing researchers to test how activating specific groups of nerve cells causes changes in behaviour or bodily functions. This technique has enabled researchers to identify neural circuits involved in specific memories, emotions, and behaviours, including processes relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Optogenetics is being explored in clinical research, including attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment. According to Per Svenningsson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, optogenetics has opened possibilities for mapping the brain that researchers could previously only imagine.
The three laureates, Deisseroth, Hegemann, and Nagel, are affiliated with prestigious institutions. Deisseroth is affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University in the United States. Hegemann is a professor of neuroscience at Humboldt University of Berlin, while Nagel is a professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine carries an award of SEK 12m, to be shared equally among the three scientists. This prize acknowledges their groundbreaking work on optogenetics, which has significantly advanced our understanding of neural circuits and their role in shaping behaviour and bodily functions.
Key points
- The 2026 Nobel Medicine Prize was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for their discoveries leading to optogenetics.
- Optogenetics allows researchers to control nerve cells using light and has become a powerful tool for investigating neural circuits.
- The technique has been used to identify neural circuits involved in specific memories, emotions, and behaviours, and is being explored in clinical research.
