The three scientists were recognised for pioneering work that enabled researchers to control the activity of specific cells using light.

Updated on: Oct 5, 2026, 15:32:33 IST

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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, the Nobel Prize committee announced on Monday.

The three scientists were recognised for pioneering work that enabled researchers to control the activity of specific cells using light. Their discoveries have transformed neuroscience and opened new avenues for studying how the brain and nervous system function.

“Optogenetics 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 the Nobel Assembly said.

Their contribution

Deisseroth, a 54-year-old American, Hegemann, a 71-year-old German, and Nagel, a 73-year-old German, were selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institute medical university and receive a prize sum amounting to 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), which is shared if there are multiple winners, Reuters reported.

Hegemann and Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein with unique properties. They found that, regardless of which type of cell the protein was introduced into, the cells became sensitive to light.

Deisseroth later 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. He subsequently demonstrated that this light-controlled switch could be used to control nerve cells in the brains of living mice.

Nobel Prize 2025 winners

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance"

The peripheral immune tolerance is a way the body helps keep the immune system from attacking its own tissues instead of foreign invaders.

"Their discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases," the committee behind the Nobel Prize had said.

The laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine are selected by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, the Nobel Foundation said.

The Nobel Assembly has 50 voting members and comprises professors in medical subjects at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Its working body is the Nobel Committee, whose members are elected from among the Assembly for a three-year term.

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