Nobel 2026 · 8 October 2026
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine: what optogenetics is and what it has to do with laser therapy
On 5 October 2026 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for optogenetics: a method that uses a protein taken from an alga to activate nerve cells with light. It has changed the study of the brain. It uses light like laser therapy, but works in a different way: only after a gene has been introduced into the cells.
In brief
What we know
- Optogenetics activates nerve cells with light, thanks to a protein taken from an alga.
- It has shown which brain circuits drive memories, feelings and behaviours.
- In 2021 a blind patient partly regained sight with this method.
What we do not know yet
- Whether and when it will become a treatment: in humans there are only first attempts.
- How well it works in many patients: the 2021 case is a single one.
- The prize says nothing about laser therapy: for that, its own studies count.
The news
The prize
On 5 October 2026 the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, USA), Peter Hegemann (Humboldt University of Berlin) and Georg Nagel (University of Würzburg). The citation: «for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics».
Optogenetics is a method that makes it possible to activate specific groups of nerve cells with light, in the brain of a living animal. In the 20th century researchers had found out which areas of the brain are linked to which functions, but with the methods of the time they could not prove that those areas were the cause. According to the Nobel Committee, the laureates have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience.
The discovery
From an alga to a switch for nerve cells
It all began with Peter Hegemann's curiosity: how does Chlamydomonas, an alga made of a single cell, manage to swim towards light? In the early 2000s he and Georg Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin on the surface of the alga, a protein with a unique property. When it is lit with blue light, it opens a channel: charged ions flow in and the cell produces an electrical impulse. Whatever cell they put the protein in, that cell became sensitive to light.
Karl Deisseroth introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells from rats. By lighting them with blue light, he could trigger a nerve signal. He published this breakthrough in 2005. Two years later he made this light switch work in the brains of living mice.
What it is for
From the brain to sight
With optogenetics researchers have been able to reveal the nerve circuits that drive specific memories, feelings and behaviours, relevant to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
In the care of people the method is at its first attempts, for example to give sight back to those who have lost it. In 2021 a patient blinded by retinitis pigmentosa received an injection into the eye with the gene for a light-sensitive protein. In this disease the cells of the retina that capture light are lost. Wearing special goggles that project light pulses onto the retina, the patient was able, with that eye, to perceive, locate, count and touch objects. Before, the patient could not do so with or without the goggles. It is the first case described, and it is a single patient.
Optogenetics and laser therapy
The same light, a different mechanism
Optogenetics and laser therapy both use light, but they are not the same thing. In optogenetics the light works only because a gene has first been introduced into the cells: the gene for a light-sensitive protein that acts as a switch.
Low-level laser therapy, or photobiomodulation, introduces no genes. It uses red and near-infrared light on molecules that cells already have. According to a 2017 review, the main target is cytochrome c oxidase, an enzyme of the mitochondria, and its effects include a rise in ATP, the cell's energy store.
The Nobel Prize honours optogenetics. It says nothing about how well laser therapy works, which has to be judged on its own studies.
Transparency. The details of the prize come from the official press release of the Nobel Assembly, the scientific details from the original papers listed below. The practice has no ties to the laureates.
The physician's comment
Dr Zeljko Djordjevic
The Nobel Prize explains how blue light acts on the cell: it activates a molecule that absorbs it. It is the same principle as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, where blue light activates photosensitisers such as riboflavin and curcumin against bacteria. The molecule, however, is different, and so is the effect.
At the practice
Laser therapy
At the practice, light is used through laser therapy and photobiomodulation, without genes. Indications and studies are on the laser therapy page; whether a treatment is indicated is always decided after the specialist visit.
Scientific sources
- The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet. Press release: The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 5 October 2026. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/
- Nagel G, Szellas T, Huhn W, et al. Channelrhodopsin-2, a directly light-gated cation-selective membrane channel. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2003;100:13940–13945. doi:10.1073/pnas.1936192100
- Boyden ES, Zhang F, Bamberg E, Nagel G, Deisseroth K. Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nat Neurosci. 2005;8:1263–1268. doi:10.1038/nn1525
- Sahel JA, Boulanger-Scemama E, Pagot C, et al. Partial recovery of visual function in a blind patient after optogenetic therapy. Nat Med. 2021;27:1223–1229. doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01351-4
- Etemadi A, Hamidain M, Parker S, Chiniforush N. Blue Light Photodynamic Therapy With Curcumin and Riboflavin in the Management of Periodontitis: A Systematic Review. J Lasers Med Sci. 2021;12:e15. doi:10.34172/jlms.2021.15
- Hamblin MR. Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation. AIMS Biophys. 2017;4:337–361. doi:10.3934/biophy.2017.3.337
A question about your case?
The article explains the study; whether the treatment is right for you is decided at the specialist visit.
We accept referrals and second-opinion requests from your physician, via HIN. dr.djordjevic@hin.ch
The information on this page is for general information only and does not replace medical advice. The indication, expected benefits and risks of every treatment are assessed individually during the specialist consultation.