Medicine Nobel goes to Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel for controlling cells with light
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University in Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg for discoveries on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Hegemann and Nagel found light-sensitive proteins in algae; Deisseroth showed how to place them in chosen neurons so researchers can switch those cells on or off with light. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor. CNA reported the award on Monday evening, Singapore time.
Optogenetics has become a basic tool for studying how the brain controls behaviour, and it is being tested in treatments for some forms of blindness.
Most of the payoff is in research for now, but tools like this speed up work on brain diseases.
Physics follows on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday and Literature on Thursday.
DailyDrop Singapore edition No. 1 · Morning · MON., OCT. 5, 2026