The Nobel Prize announced the names of the winners in medicine and physics for the year 2026, and there was clear interest in studies and research related to light and its effect, whether on the human brain in medicine or on understanding the universe and its origins in physics.
The Karolinska Institutet awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine to three scientists from Germany and the United States for their research in optogenetics, which is the 41st time that the prize has been awarded jointly to three individuals.
The award was won by the Germans Peter Hegemann and Jörg Nagel, and from the United States by Karl Deisseroth. Nobel announced in the context of winning that scientists had made discoveries about ion channels that open with light and the development of optogenetics, which is a technology that allows precise control of the activity of nerve cells using light.
According to the official award page on the X platform, the winners have invented a biological technology that makes it possible to turn on or stop the activity of individual neurons in a living brain. The technology relied on a protein extracted from a single-celled green alga called Chlamydomonas.
German scientists Peter Hegemann and George Nagel found this protein in moss, and noticed that it works as a light sensor and an ion channel at the same time. When illuminated with blue light, the channel opens and a flow of ions occurs, generating a rapid electrical pulse.
While American researcher Karl Deisseroth took the gene for this protein and inserted it into nerve cells (starting with mice), he was able to turn nerve cells on or off with extreme precision simply by shining blue light on them.
Optogenetics is set to help understand more about how neurons shape memories, emotions and behavior in the living brain, which could open the door to treating vision loss.
German Jörg Nagel was born in 1953, received his PhD from the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and is currently Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology at the Department of Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics - Botany I, University of Würzburg, Germany.
He was in Italy when he received the winning call. “I didn't expect this, really... I thought it was still too early to get this award in medicine,” he said.
As for the other German, Peter Hegemann, he was born in 1954. He obtained his doctorate from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany, and is currently a senior professor of neuroscience at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
Communication with him failed, so an email was sent to him saying: “Call me, I have something important for you.” When he called the number, he discovered that he had won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Higman spoke about the joy of sharing this award with friends, the value of curiosity, and the unexpected places that investigation can take you, according to the award’s website.
As for the American psychiatrist, Carl Deisserath, he was born in 1971. He obtained a doctorate in philosophy and a doctorate in medicine from Stanford University in the United States. He is currently a professor of bioengineering, psychology, and behavioral sciences at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, the United States.
He commented on the news of his victory, saying: “I haven’t slept yet, because I prefer staying up late. Now I don’t think I will be able to sleep for a long time!”
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet is responsible for selecting the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, and the Nobel Assembly includes 50 members. The Nobel Committee at the Institute is the executive body that reviews nominations and selects the winners, and it consists of five members in addition to the secretary of both the Nobel Committee and the Nobel Society.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to Belgian scientist Francis Halzen, 82, for his decisive contributions to the establishment of the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astronomical origin, originating in the distant universe.
Halzen was born in Tennine, Belgium. He obtained a doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, in 1969, and later became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States of America.
Halzen said in a press conference via telephone, after receiving a call from the Academy and announcing his victory: “It was a big surprise, and I obviously did not expect that, but I was thrilled to hear the news of winning this award.”
The official page of the Nobel Prize on the
Eva Olsson, a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said at the academy’s headquarters in Stockholm: “This Nobel Prize is related to a giant ice cube located at the south pole of our planet, as this ice cube allows for the detection of neutrinos.”
Halzen made his first observation of capturing neutrinos at the South Pole in 1988. When a neutrino hits an atomic nucleus, it produces a flash of light that can be tracked by sensors in the clear ice.
He chose the South Pole because the ice there has many advantages, as it is free of various types of interference and the region is geologically stable, without earthquakes.
There seems to be a connection between the medicine and physics prizes, because they both study light and its effect, whether on algae and neurons or on the production of particles.
This year's Nobel Prize began on Monday, October 5, with the announcement of the medicine and physics prizes, and ends with the announcement of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences on October 12, which is announced every year in memory of Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune from inventing dynamite. It is known as the "Nobel Prize in Economics."
Various institutions participate in awarding the Nobel Prizes: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences presents the Prize for Physics and Chemistry, the Bank of Sweden presents the Prize for Economics which it created in 1968, while the Karolinska Institute presents the Prize for Medicine, the Swedish Academy presents the Prize for Literature, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nominations for the award begin early in February and September of each year, and committees affiliated with each institution evaluate the nominations and candidates and consult experts, then refer the “short list” to the institutions concerned to make the final decision.
Each institution holds a final vote among experts in early October, and the winners are announced immediately afterwards.
Although the winners are announced in October, the awards are handed over to the winners in a major ceremony at the Academy’s headquarters on December 10 of each year, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. All awards are held in Stockholm, while the Nobel Peace Ceremony takes place in Oslo.
Each winner receives a gold medal and a certificate that is considered a “work of art,” and a financial reward is awarded with each prize, which this year amounts to 12 million Swedish krona ($1.2 million).
Committees affiliated with the institutions awarding the prizes nominate names. Scientists authorized and approved by the Nobel Committee alone choose the nominated names. No person has the right to nominate himself. The names of the official nominees for the Nobel Prize remain secret and are not announced by the Nobel Committee until 50 years have passed.
The nomination committees also include professors of science at universities and scientific institutes in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
