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Three scientists honoured for transforming modern brain research (Img: IANS)
New Delhi: The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a technique that has transformed the study of the brain, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said on Monday.
Understanding how the brain forms memories, feelings and behaviours has long been a goal for researchers. Optogenetics has made it possible to switch the activity of individual nerve cells on or off in a living brain.
"Optogenetics provides opportunities for mapping the brain in a way that we could once only dream of," said Per Svenningsson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine.
According to an official statement, Hegemann and Nagel discovered "channelrhodopsin", a protein with unique properties.
They found that regardless of which cell they put the protein in, those cells became light-sensitive.
"Deisseroth introduced the gene for ‘channelrhodopsin’ into nerve cells from rats. By illuminating the cells with blue light, he was able to trigger a nerve signal. Later, he made this light-controlled switch for nerve cells work in the brains of living mice," the statement noted.
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The method of controlling nerve signals with light is now known as optogenetics and has rapidly gained global impact.
Hegemann's research helped reveal how certain microorganisms sense light through specialised proteins.
Nagel subsequently helped demonstrate that these proteins could function as light-controlled ion channels.
Using optogenetics, researchers have been able to identify neural circuits governing specific memories, feelings and behaviours relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
In clinical medicine, researchers are also using the method in attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment.
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Deisseroth is a professor of bioengineering, psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford University in the US. Hegemann, a German biophysicist, studied light-sensitive proteins in microorganisms. Nagel, a German neuroscientist, contributed to the discovery and characterisation of microbial opsins and demonstrated their potential as light-controlled ion channels.
