Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel received the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, October 5, for discoveries involving light-sensitive ion channels and optogenetics. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm recognized work that lets scientists investigate brain activity by controlling nerve signals with light, according to the institute.
Stanford University confirmed that Deisseroth, its professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and bioengineering, shares the award with Hegemann of Humboldt University in Berlin and Nagel of the University of Würzburg. The recognition brings together researchers in the United States and Germany whose contributions connect basic biology with neuroscience.
Karolinska traced the breakthrough to studies of a single-celled alga that moves toward light. Hegemann and Nagel identified channelrhodopsin, a protein that opens an ion channel when illuminated by blue light. The movement of charged particles produces an electrical signal, and transferring the protein to other cells makes those cells sensitive to light.
Deisseroth introduced the relevant gene into rat nerve cells and triggered signals with blue light, publishing the breakthrough in 2005, Karolinska said. In 2007, he demonstrated the light-controlled switch in the brains of living mice. These steps turned a biological discovery into a way to test how particular nerve circuits function.
The Max Planck Society said the light-sensitive channels act as switches controlling information flow in nerve cells and have transformed basic neuroscience. Karolinska said researchers now use optogenetics to identify circuits linked to memories, emotions and behavior, including features relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
The work also opens possibilities for medicine, according to the Max Planck Society. Karolinska highlighted attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment. Those efforts remain research applications in the institute’s account, rather than an announcement of a new established treatment; the award recognizes the scientific tools underpinning further investigation.
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