The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Optogenetics
Blog Vol 7.12. The 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Optogenetics
This past week, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three researchers in the field of optogenetics.
“Optogenetics is a technology that allows targeted, fast control of precisely defined events in biological systems as complex as freely moving mammals. By delivering optical control at the speed (millisecond-scale) and with the precision (cell type-specific) required for biological processing, optogenetics approaches have opened new landscapes for the study of biology, both in health and disease.” Dr. Karl Deisseroth (Optogenetics PubMed Central).
Translation (roughly): Optogenetics uses light to map, manipulate, and control light-sensitive protein, enzymes (or other) that are already there, or are deliberately inserted into, neurons or other cells.
Light — targeted, fast, precise, control. Light is key.
In the early 2000’s Drs. Peter Hegemann and George Nagel from Germany isolated a protein called channelrhodopsin from algae that swim toward light. This protein opens the cell allowing charged molecules to flow in, creating a tiny electrical charge.
The third winner, Dr. Karl Deisseroth of Stanford, was able to insert the channel rhodopsin into neurons which caused them to fire and communicate with other neurons. These on/off light switches can be used to map the brain, which has much potential for improving our understanding of conditions like depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. Better understanding leads to better treatment. Worthy of the prize. (Read more here).
There is more. Scientific research is so fascinating, the sharing of data and the collaboration that takes place, with the result: new research and new treatments. Awesome.
… such as research into a new method of treating retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a debilitating genetic disease that targets the visual receptors in the retina resulting in blindness. The photoreceptors, which gather light and start the neuronal chain of seeing, are defunct. Researchers have developed a protein called Multi-Characteristic Opsin (MCO-10) which when placed in healthy bipolar cells (cells in the eye) confers light sensitivity to the surviving inner retinal neurons. The transformed bipolars now start the seeing process. As with other gene therapies, a one-time injection of an adenovirus vector (AAV2) is used to deliver the genetic material to the cell nucleus. In a current study over three years, the results have been very hopeful. (Read more here).
Very hopeful, when you have so many very capable and dedicated researchers coming together.
‘til next week,
The good doctor
