2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Three Optogenetics Pioneers
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth(The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University), Peter Hegemann(Humboldt University of Berlin) and Georg Nagel(University of Würzburg) for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, the Nobel Committee announced Monday.
The three scientists were recognized for discoveries that have helped advance researchers’ ability to control and study the activity of cells using light, opening new avenues for research in neuroscience and other fields of biomedicine.
The Nobel Foundation also announced in September that the monetary award for each of the 2026 Nobel Prizes would be increased to SEK 12 million (approximately RMB 8.01 million), up from SEK 11 million (approximately RMB 7.34 million) in previous years. The SEK 1 million increase represents a rise of about 9 percent.
The prize is the first of the 2026 Nobel awards to be announced, with the remaining prizes to be unveiled in the coming days.
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