Nobel medicine prize awarded to three scientists for optogenetics

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries concerning light-sensitive ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Committee announced in Stockholm on Monday, Interfax, Meduza, Vedomosti and Kommersant reported. The three share the prize equally, worth 12 million Swedish kronor (almost $1.2 million), according to Meduza and Vedomosti. The medicine prize is the first of this year's Nobel awards to be announced. [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]

Optogenetics is a method of controlling the physiological activity of a cell with light: a gene for a light-sensitive protein such as rhodopsin is introduced into a neuron, and after illumination the protein converts the light signal into a nerve impulse, Kommersant reported. Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered the protein channelrhodopsin in the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas in the early 2000s; under blue light it opens an ion channel and charged ions create an electrical impulse, Interfax and Vedomosti reported. Whatever cell the protein was placed in became light-sensitive, Vedomosti said. Habr News said Hegemann showed as early as 1991 that light causes ion currents in the cell through rhodopsin, and that in 2003 the two showed channelrhodopsin-2 is a directly light-controlled cation channel. [ 1 , 5 , 8 ]

Karl Deisseroth turned the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. He introduced the rhodopsin gene into rat nerve cells and, illuminating them with blue light, triggered a nerve signal, publishing the results in 2005; two years later he made the switch work in the brain of living mice, Interfax and Vedomosti reported. Meduza noted that optogenetics allows individual neurons to be stimulated precisely without affecting neighbouring cells, which direct electrical stimulation of the brain, known since the early 20th century, cannot do. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]

The method is used in research on memory and stress — illuminating a mouse's brain through implanted optical fibres can recall a specific memory at a chosen moment, Meduza reported. Vedomosti said neural circuits behind particular memories, feelings and behaviour linked to neurological and psychiatric disorders have already been identified with it, and that it is being tried clinically to restore vision. Kommersant reported that in 2021 modified light-sensitive proteins were introduced into retinal ganglion cells, creating an artificial layer of light-sensitive cells in a blind retina; RBC's later explainer said optogenetics could help restore sight and advance treatment for Parkinson's patients. [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 ]

Last year's prize went to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for research into peripheral immune tolerance, Meduza and Kommersant reported. Physics will be announced on 6 October, chemistry on 7 October, literature on 8 October and the peace prize in Oslo on 9 October, with the economics prize on 12 October, Meduza reported. The ceremony takes place on 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. [ 4 , 6 ]

RIA Novosti later reported that a biologist described the laureates' discovery as a breakthrough. Outlets transliterate the names differently — Interfax wrote Дейссерот, TASS Дайссерот and Vedomosti Дайсерот. [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 10 ]