Three Scientists Win 2026 Nobel Prize In Medicine

The 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their discoveries involving light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel academy announced on Monday.

Optogenetics combines optics and genetics to enable non-invasive stimulation of neurons. The Nobel Assembly said the technique has significantly changed scientists' understanding of the brain by allowing researchers to identify neural circuits involved in specific memories, feelings and behaviors relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders.

"The impact of optogenetics extends far beyond understanding the healthy brain, it has also helped revealed how brain circuits are disrupted, with implications for conditions such as blindness, depression, addiction and dementia," Abdel El Manira, a Nobel committee member and professor of neuroscience, said after the announcement.

In clinical medicine, researchers are using optogenetics in efforts to restore sight in people with visual impairment. The field is also expected to potentially contribute to treatments for neurological and sensory disorders including Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

Peter Hegemann is a leading specialist in photobiology and is regarded as one of the founders of optogenetics. He is a neuroscience professor at Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany.

Georg Nagel is a biophysicist and professor of neurophysiology at the University of Würzburg in Germany. Karl Deisseroth is a professor of bioengineering and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in the United States.

The researchers' work came together after Hegemann studied how a single-celled species of green algae moves toward light. Hegemann and Nagel identified a protein that opens a channel when exposed to blue light, producing an electrical impulse. Introducing the protein into other cells makes them responsive to light.

Deisseroth later worked with the gene responsible for the protein to develop a light-controlled switch for nerve cells in the brains of living mice.

The medicine award is the first Nobel Prize to be announced this week. Laureates in physics, chemistry, literature and peace will be announced in the days leading up to Friday.

Last year's medicine prize was jointly awarded to Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States and Shimun Sakaguchi of Japan for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

The prizes will be presented at ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10.

Each Nobel Prize comes with a cash award of 12 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to slightly more than €1 million or .2 million.