Nobel Medicine Prize 2026

October 7 , 2026 12 hrs 0 min 25 0

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel jointly won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.
Hegemann and Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein that makes cells respond to light.
Deisseroth used the technique to control nerve cells with light, including in the brains of living mice.
Optogenetics allows scientists to switch selected nerve cells on or off using light, helping study brain functions such as memory and movement.
The technique is widely used to study neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, depression and addiction.
The prize is selected by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.