Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 awarded

Three illustrated portraits of people arranged side by side against a light background. The illustrations depict busts viewed from the front. Two of the people are wearing glasses. The drawing is rendered in black lines with gold shading.

The Swedish Karolinska Institute has awarded Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel the Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. “Once again, the Nobel Committee has recognized basic science research that provides the foundation for further scientific breakthroughs. Perhaps the discoveries of this year’s Nobel laureates will help us better understand the mechanisms responsible for emotions, memory, and behavior,” comments Professor Paweł Włodarski, Head of the Department of Histology and Embryology and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at WUM.

Peter Hegemann from Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel from the University of Würzburg discovered channelrhodopsin at the beginning of the 21st century, a protein that makes cells sensitive to light. Karl Deisseroth from Stanford University introduced channelrhodopsin into rat nerve cells and then, by exposing these cells to light, triggered a neural signal in these cells. He subsequently succeeded in using this light-responsive “switch” in the brains of living mice. This enabled researchers to control the activity of selected nerve cells using light.

“The laureates laid the foundation for a new era in neuroscience,” the Nobel Prize website states.

The discovery of light-sensitive proteins gave rise to optogenetics. What does this technique involve?

The term optogenetics describes experiments involving cells into which a gene encoding a light-gated channel protein has been artificially introduced. Such modified cells become activated in response to light. Applying this method to multicellular structures makes it possible to selectively stimulate selected areas of organs. Research using optogenetics is not limited to the central nervous system. It is also being conducted on other organs, where studying the effect of stimulating specific groups of cells is particularly important, such as cells that regulate heart contractions or secretory cells, explains Professor Włodarski.

What medical breakthroughs could emerge from the research recognized by the Nobel Prize? Could these breakthroughs concern, for example, the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, or depression?

Breakthrough therapies stem from a comprehensive understanding of physiological mechanisms. The brain is an organ that conceals many mysteries. Our current knowledge is already extensive, but many limitations in expanding it result from a lack of good experimental models. Transgenic mice carrying the gene for channelrhodopsin, which is present in the animal’s brain cells, may provide an answer to such research needs. It is difficult to say at this point what therapeutic applications these findings may have. Time will tell. The question concerns diseases with relatively well-described pathogenesis. However, there are numerous less well-studied diseases of the nervous system whose mechanisms may be elucidated through optogenetics, emphasizes Professor Paweł Włodarski.