Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel win Nobel Medicine Prize

American scientist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, according to RTE. The awards were announced on October 5, 2026. The three researchers were chosen for their work on light and optogenetics, which has helped explain how the brain works. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

RTE reported that the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute medical university selected the winners for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Mr Deisseroth is 54 years old, Mr Hegemann is 71, and Mr Nagel is 73. [1]

Optogenetics is a biological technique used to characterize and manipulate the activity of neurons or other cell types with light. This technique is achieved by expressing light-sensitive ion channels, pumps, or enzymes in targeted brain cells. [8]