German and US scientists win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been honored for their research on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The Nobel Committee said the method makes it possible to map the brain in ways we could once only imagine.

On Monday, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet announced the winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The prize was awarded for optogenetics, a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells in the living brain shape memories, feelings and behavior.

According to the institute's statement, Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel laid the foundation for a new era in neuroscience.

Per Svenningsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said in a press release: "Optogenetics creates opportunities to map the brain in ways we could once only imagine."

In a post on X, the committee stressed that the method is now used in laboratories around the world to unlock the brain's secrets.

The 2025 prize was shared by two US-based scientists, Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, and their Japanese colleague Shimon Sakaguchi. They were honored for their discoveries on peripheral immune tolerance, which prevents the immune system from harming the body. Experts consider these findings important for understanding autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 117 times between 1901 and 2026, to 235 laureates.

This year's prize amounts to 12 million Swedish kronor, or about 1.09 million euros. The sum may be shared among an individual laureate, a small group of laureates, or an organization.

The award ceremony will take place on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the prizes, inventor of dynamite and wealthy Swedish industrialist. Nobel died in 1896.