Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel win 2026 medicine Nobel for optogenetics
publishers 44articles 54first reported 1 Oct, 11:31 UTCdeveloping since 1 Oct · 22 editionstop 25 #6
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries involving light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet announced Monday.
Optogenetics allows researchers to switch individual nerve cells on or off using light, helping them identify neural circuits involved in memories, feelings and behavior. The Nobel Assembly said the method has transformed the study of the brain and is now used in laboratories worldwide.
The work began with research by Hegemann and Nagel into how single-celled green algae respond to light. They discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein that opens an ion channel when illuminated, producing an electrical impulse and making cells light-sensitive. Deisseroth later used the gene controlling the protein to create a light-activated switch for nerve cells in the brains of living mice.
Researchers are also investigating medical applications. Clinical studies have used light-sensitive proteins in attempts to restore vision in people with retinitis pigmentosa, while potential uses are being explored for Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
Deisseroth, 54, is based at Stanford University in California. Hegemann, 71, works at Humboldt University of Berlin, and Nagel, 73, is at the University of Würzburg. The three laureates will share 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. The medicine award opened this year’s week of Nobel Prize announcements.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 6 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 98 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
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- Source articles
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- 8, 6 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
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- This version written
- 98 h after the record first saw the story
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WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Several specific scientific and medical details needed narrowing or correction to match the source wording. - "helping them identify neural circuits involved in memories, emotions and behavior": The sources refer to memories, feelings and behaviours, not emotions; this is a specific unsupported substitution. - "They identified channelrhodopsin, a protein that opens an ion channel when illuminated": The sources say Hegemann and Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, and Dawn specifically says Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin-2; the wording is acceptable in substance, but 'identified' is not the sourced verb and may imply a different detail. - "Deisseroth later used the gene controlling the protein to create a light-activated switch for neurons in living animals.": The sources specify living mice or rat nerve cells, not living animals generally. - "potential uses are being explored for neurological and sensory conditions including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, depression, addiction and dementia": The sources split these conditions across different claims: DW says potential treatments for Parkinson's and epilepsy and implications for depression, addiction and dementia; the story overstates all five as potential uses being explored.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel win 2026 medicine Nobel for optogenetics
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries involving light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet announced Monday.
Optogenetics allows researchers to switch individual nerve cells on or off using light, helping them identify neural circuits involved in memories, emotionsfeelings and behavior. The Nobel Assembly said the method has transformed the study of the brain and is now used in laboratories worldwide.
The work began with research by Hegemann and Nagel into how single-celled green algae respond to light. They identifieddiscovered channelrhodopsin, a protein that opens an ion channel when illuminated, producing an electrical impulse and making cells light-sensitive. Deisseroth later used the gene controlling the protein to create a light-activated switch for neuronsnerve cells in the brains of living animals.mice.
Researchers are also investigating medical applications. Clinical studies have used light-sensitive proteins in attempts to restore vision in people with retinitis pigmentosa, while potential uses are being explored for neurologicalParkinson’s disease and sensory conditions including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, depression, addiction and dementia.epilepsy.
Deisseroth, 54, is based at Stanford University in California. Hegemann, 71, works at Humboldt University of Berlin, and Nagel, 73, is at the University of Würzburg. The three laureates will share 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. The medicine award opened this year’s week of Nobel Prize announcements.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →