The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists whose research revealed how the brain can switch individual nerve cells on and off.
Karl Deisseroth, 54, Peter Hegemann, 71, and Georg Nagel, 73, were recognized for pioneering work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The researchers are affiliated with universities in Germany and the United States.
The Nobel Assembly praised their achievement in a post on X, saying the technique “is now being used in laboratories around the world to reveal the brain’s mysteries.”
Deisseroth is a professor at Stanford University in California. Hegemann works at Humboldt University in Berlin, while Nagel is based at the University of Würzburg in Germany, according to the assembly.
Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said he managed to contact all three laureates by phone Monday. The Associated Press was unable to reach them immediately.
The Nobel Assembly said optogenetics ushered in a new era for neuroscience by giving researchers a light-controlled way to activate or silence nerve cells and brain circuits. The approach has helped scientists investigate how the brain functions and begin tracing the pathways linked to behavior and disease.
Hegemann’s work began with a single-celled green alga that moves toward light. Together with Nagel, he identified a protein that opens a channel when exposed to blue light, producing an electrical impulse. Inserting the protein into other cells makes them responsive to light.
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Deisseroth later used the gene responsible for producing that protein to develop a light-activated switch for nerve cells in the brains of living mice.
Medicine prize kicks off Nobels week
The award was announced at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, marking the start of Nobel Prize week.
This year’s prize carries a cash award of 12 million Swedish kronor, or approximately $1.2 million.
Last year’s medicine prize went to three scientists for discoveries involving the immune system.
The medicine award will be followed by the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday and Literature on Thursday.
The Nobel Peace Prize is scheduled for Friday, with the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to be announced Oct. 12.
The 12 million Swedish kronor prize is awarded as a single amount, whether the recipient is an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.
