Nobel Prize in Medicine Honors a Light-Sensing Pond Alga Protein That Became a Switch for Brain Cells
Nature World News | 06.10.2026 20:00
A green alga too small to see without a microscope is at the center of this year's most prestigious prize in medicine. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced on Monday, Oct. 5, that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.
