Nobel Prize in Medicine 2026: Three scientists honoured for optogenetics breakthrough

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been jointly awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering light-gated ion channels and developing optogenetics, a technique that has reshaped how scientists study the brain.

Karl Deisseroth is a professor at Stanford University in the United States, while Peter Hegemann is associated with Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel with the University of Würzburg in Germany. The three laureates will share the prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor, approximately US$1.2 million.

Their work laid the foundation for optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control the activity of nerve cells.

Optogenetics allows researchers to control the activity of individual nerve cells using light, switching them on or off within a living brain with a precision that was previously unattainable.

The discovery traces back to work by Hegemann and Nagel, who identified a protein called channelrhodopsin with a unique ability to respond to light. When introduced into different types of cells, the protein made those cells sensitive to light. Deisseroth then advanced the discovery by introducing the gene responsible for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells taken from rats, demonstrating that blue light directed at these cells could trigger nerve signals. He later showed that the same light-controlled system could function inside the brains of living mice, laying the foundation for optogenetics as a tool capable of precisely controlling selected nerve cells without affecting surrounding ones.

The technique has since become a standard method in laboratories worldwide for studying how the brain produces memories, emotions and behaviour, long one of neuroscience's most difficult questions to probe. It has also opened new avenues of research into neurological and other disorders.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute said the three scientists were being recognised for discoveries that have had a major impact on neuroscience, enabling researchers to explore the brain in ways that were previously difficult or impossible.

The 2026 award is the 117th Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine since 1901 and brings the total number of laureates in the category to 235. The prize is selected by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, as designated in Alfred Nobel's will. Nobel, a Swedish inventor, scientist and businessman, established the prizes through his 1895 will, directing that they honour those who had conferred the greatest benefit on humankind.