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Back2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Optogenetics Research
2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Optogenetics Research
Science
SCMP Economy1 hour agoScience1 min readChina

2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Optogenetics Research

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel win for research into light-gated ion channels.

nobel prizemedicineoptogenetics

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The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their pioneering research into light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

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Why It Matters

The Nobel Prize season opened on Monday with the Medicine Prize announcement at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

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The 2026 Nobel Prize season opened on Monday with the Medicine Prize being awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their research into light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

The prize was announced at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, kicking off Nobels week.

Their work was lauded by the committee “for discoveries leading to optogenetics, which makes it possible to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain.”

“This method is now being used in laboratories around the world to reveal the brain’s mysteries,” the committee wrote on social media.

Open Questions

  • What further applications of optogenetics are currently being developed?

Related Topics

nobel prize
PeopleKarl DeisserothPeter HegemannGeorg Nagel
OrganizationsKarolinska Institute
PlacesStockholm
Topicsmedicineoptogeneticskarl deisserothpeter hegemanngeorg nagelkarolinska institute
This article was originally published by SCMP Economy.

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