{"id":2516,"date":"2026-10-06T00:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T15:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-10-06-nobel-optogenetics-2026-en\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T00:49:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T15:49:23","slug":"2026-10-06-nobel-optogenetics-2026-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-10-06-nobel-optogenetics-2026-en\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 medicine Nobel honours three pioneers of studying neurons with light"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-10-06 00:49 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.<\/p>\n

It honours a research tool for changing selected cells\u2019 activity with light; it does not mean a flashlight can control an ordinary human brain or cure every brain disorder.<\/p>\n

A tool that began with green algae<\/h2>\n

The Nobel committee announced the joint award on October 5, and AP independently confirmed the recipients and field. The starting point was a light-sensitive protein in a single-celled green alga. Hegemann and Nagel\u2019s work showed how light opens a channel in a cell membrane, allowing charged particles to pass. Introducing such a channel into a neuron can make light a switch for its electrical activity.<\/p>\n

From a cell experiment to living animals<\/h2>\n

The official account describes Deisseroth introducing the gene for a light-sensitive protein into rat neurons in 2005 and inducing signals with light. Work in living mice followed in 2007. These dates identify different stages: demonstrating a method in cells is distinct from studying a circuit in a living animal. Neither date represents the completion of a treatment for people.<\/p>\n

\"2026
This AI-generated illustration explains the topic; it is not a photograph or an exact reconstruction of real people, sites, experiments, specimens or official documents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Testing causes, rather than only observing activity<\/h2>\n

Seeing a neuron activate during a behaviour does not establish that it caused that behaviour. Changing the activity of selected cells and comparing the outcome gives researchers a more direct way to test a causal relationship. That is an important contribution of optogenetics. The conclusions still depend on which cells, animals and circuits were studied, rather than applying automatically to every brain.<\/p>\n

Clinical applications need their own evidence<\/h2>\n

The method requires cells to produce a light-sensitive protein and requires light to reach the relevant tissue. Shining ordinary light at someone\u2019s head is a different action. Clinical applications, including attempts to restore vision, are being investigated, but the award itself is neither treatment approval nor a guarantee of benefit. The committee\u2019s background account and individual clinical-trial results are the next checks. Safety, durability and eligible patients must be assessed for each treatment.<\/p>\n

Primary source and independent checks<\/h2>\n

Primary source and official explanation: Nobel Prize<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source and official explanation: Nobel Prize<\/a><\/p>\n

Independent reporting check: Associated Press<\/a><\/p>\n

Read in other languages<\/h2>\n

\ud55c\uad6d\uc5b4<\/a> \u00b7 English<\/a> \u00b7 Espa\u00f1ol<\/a> \u00b7 \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e<\/a> \u00b7 Ti\u1ebfng Vi\u1ec7t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. It honours a research tool for changing selected cells\u2019 activity with light; it does not mean a flashlight can control an ordinary human brain or cure every brain disorder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-2516","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}