The trio was recognised for discoveries that enabled scientists to control the activity of individual nerve cells using light, opening new ways to study the brain. Three scientists to share 12m Swedish kronor prize for their work on ‘light-gated ion channels and optogenetics’The Nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2026 has been awarded to three scientists for their work on investigating the mysteries of the brain.Karl Deisseroth of both Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of the Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg have been awarded the prize “for their discoveries concerning lig... Key points and original sources are listed below.

• The trio was recognised for discoveries that enabled scientists to control the activity of individual nerve cells using light, opening new ways to study the brain.S1

• Three scientists to share 12m Swedish kronor prize for their work on ‘light-gated ion channels and optogenetics’The Nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2026 has been awarded to three scientists for their work on investigating the mysteries of the brain.Karl...S2

• Karl Deisseroth, Georg Nagel and Peter Hegemann developed optogenetics, which uses light and genetics to control individual cellsS3