Nobel Prize Medicine 2026: The Medicine Nobel Prize 2026 has been announced on Monday. This award has been given jointly to three scientists. American scientists Carl Deiseroth, Germany's Peter Hagemann and Georg Nagel have received this honor for their discoveries related to light gated ion channels and optogenetics. All three will receive a total prize money of 1.2 crore Swedish Krona, which will be divided equally. The discovery of these scientists changed the way research on the brain was done. Scientists can now turn selected nerve cells on or off in a very short time with the help of light.
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BREAKING NEWS
The 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” https://t.co/pkDDEBWtkz— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 5, 2026
The story started with a small algae
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This discovery started with a very small algae. It is so small that it is difficult to see it without a microscope. Scientist Peter Hagemann wanted to understand how this tiny alga navigates light. During research, Hegemann and George Nagel found a special protein. It was named channelrhodopsin. Consider this protein as a small door in the cell wall. When blue light falls on it, this door opens. As soon as it opens, some small particles, called ions, start moving in and out of the cell. This creates an electrical change inside the cell and changes its activity. The most important thing was that scientists could insert this protein into any other cell also. After this, that cell also started reacting to light. That is, scientists had come up with a method by which any living cell could be controlled by shining light.
How did the discovery reach the brain?
This is where Carl Deiseroth's work began. He discovered a way to insert this protein into the nerve cells of the rat brain. In 2005 he showed that these brain cells could be activated when exposed to blue light. After this, in 2007, this method was shown to work in the brain of a live rat also. This technique was called optogenetics. This simply means controlling specific cells of the brain with the help of light.
This made it easier for the mind to understand. Earlier scientists used to try to find out which cell in the brain does what work? But it was very difficult to isolate any one cell and understand its role. Optogenetics made this task much easier. Scientists can now turn on a particular cell with light and see how it changes the behavior of the mouse. Then you can turn off the same cell and see what changes. This helped scientists understand which brain cells are responsible for memory, fear, happiness, emotions and other behaviors.
Why is this discovery so big?
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Understand it like this, there are billions of cells in the brain and all of them are connected to each other. Scientists have now found a way by which they can observe selected cells by turning light on or off without disturbing the entire brain. This is the reason why this discovery changed the way research on the brain is done. In future, such research can also help in understanding which cells and how the connections between them work in brain-related diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, depression. The three scientists will receive a total prize money of 1.2 crore Swedish Krona, which will be divided equally among the three.
What is Nobel Prize?
The Nobel Prize was started with the will of Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel. The first Nobel Prize was given in 1901. The basic categories of this award include Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. Later the award was also added in the field of economics. The Nobel Prize in Medicine is chosen by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The awards are announced every year in the first week of October. The awards are given on 10 December, which is the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.