Trio wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics discoveries

Scientists Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physiology on October 5 for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

The laureates will share a prize sum of 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million) awarded by the Karolinska Institute medical university, with formal presentation scheduled for December 10.

Optogenetics enables researchers to switch individual nerve cell activity on or off in living brains, a technique utilized globally to study neurological mechanisms.