Nobel Physiology-Medicine 2026: Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel win for brain discoveries

News Tank Academic - Brussels - News #455976 - Published on 05/10/26 at 17:31
©  Niklas Elmehed ©  Nobel Prize Outreach
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel - ©  Niklas Elmehed ©  Nobel Prize Outreach

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to two Germans and one US researcher for developing optogenetics, a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain.

The Nobel Assembly announced on 05/10/2026 that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine would be awarded to Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth in Stockholm on 10/12/2026, the day Alfred Nobel's birthday is celebrated. The prize is worth SEK 12 million (€1m) to be shared equally between the winners.

Hegemann and Nagel, from Germany, discovered the channelrhodopsin protein and Deisseroth, from the US, transformed this protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. Their discoveries made…

©  Niklas Elmehed ©  Nobel Prize Outreach
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel - ©  Niklas Elmehed ©  Nobel Prize Outreach

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