The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Dieter Hegemann and Peter Nagel for developing optogenetics — a method that uses light to control brain cells. The prize was announced on October 5.

So what is optogenetics? The technique inserts light-sensitive proteins into specific neurons. Researchers can then switch those neurons on or off simply by shining light on them, with millisecond precision. It is like having a remote control for the brain.

Hegemann and Nagel discovered the light-sensitive channel proteins in algae. Deisseroth, a Stanford psychiatrist and Boston native, turned the discovery into a tool for neuroscience, letting scientists map the brain circuits behind movement, memory, sleep and mood.

The method has transformed brain research and opened paths toward treatments for Parkinson's, depression and blindness — including experimental therapies that restore partial vision. The Nobel committee called it a revolutionary tool that lets us watch the brain in action.

Sources: scienceline.org; telegram.com.