Press Release: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel received the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering light‑gated ion channels and creating optogenetics. Hegemann and Nagel identified channelrhodopsin in the single‑celled alga Chlamydomonas: a membrane protein that opens when hit by blue light, letting charged ions flow and producing an electrical impulse, and which confers light sensitivity when expressed in other cells. Deisseroth adapted the channelrhodopsin gene for neurons, showing in 2005 that blue light can trigger action potentials in rat neurons in vitro and demonstrating control of neural activity in living mice by 2007, turning the protein into a precise, light‑controlled switch for nerve cells.

Optogenetics has rapidly reshaped neuroscience by enabling causal mapping of the circuits that generate specific memories, emotions and behaviors, with direct relevance for studying neurological and psychiatric disorders and early clinical efforts such as restoring sight in people with visual impairment. The prize - 12 million Swedish kronor - is shared equally; the laureates’ primary affiliations are the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University (Deisseroth), Humboldt University of Berlin (Hegemann) and the University of Würzburg (Nagel).