2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for optogenetics

Key developments

1. Oct 5, 2026

   Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi won the 2025 medicine Nobel for immune tolerance work tied to diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

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2. Oct 5, 2026

   The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries behind optogenetics.

   275 sources on this →
3. Oct 6, 2026

   Karl Deisseroth, 54, shared the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics, then paused at 6:30 a.m. after a sleepless night to make his children's school lunches.

   6 sources on this →

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Science

Trio Wins Nobel Medicine Prize for Optogenetics

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries behind optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control activity in individual nerve cells and study the brain.

275 sources

Science

Stanford Scientist Wins Shared Nobel, Packs Lunches

Karl Deisseroth, 54, shared the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics, then paused at 6:30 a.m. after a sleepless night to make his children's school lunches.