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2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to 3 Scientists for Optogenetics
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News18•05-10-2026, 15:33
2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to 3 Scientists for Optogenetics
- •The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded for the discovery of optogenetics, which controls nerve cells using light, and light-gated ion channels.
- •The prestigious award is jointly shared by three scientists: Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel.
- •Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel conducted foundational research on a single-celled algae called Chlamydomonas and discovered the channelrhodopsin protein.
- •Their research laid the groundwork for optogenetics, a technology that allows scientists to control nerve cells using light.
- •This breakthrough enables researchers to closely investigate how the human brain creates memories, emotions, and actions.
Key Questions Answered
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been jointly awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for their discovery of optogenetics, a technology that controls nerve cells using light, and light-gated ion channels.
Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered a special protein called channelrhodopsin on single-celled algae called Chlamydomonas. When blue light hits this protein, a pathway opens allowing electrical particles to travel and generate signals, forming the basis of optogenetics.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was jointly awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries regarding peripheral immune tolerance.
