Insights into the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics”. Here, electrophysiology expert Nina Ottosson and SciLifeLab Fellow Iskra Pollak Dorocic share insights into the prize.
“As an electrophysiologist, I’m especially excited to see a Nobel Prize that puts ion channels in the spotlight. The discovery of channelrhodopsin transformed a naturally occurring light-gated ion channel into a tool that revolutionized neuroscience. It is a remarkable example of how fundamental research can lead to breakthroughs that change the way we understand biology,” says Nina Ottosson, electrophysiology expert at the SciLifeLab Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) unit.
Iskra Pollak Dorocic, SciLifeLab Fellow and Stockholm University researcher, uses a combination of molecular and system neuroscience tools to visualize, record and manipulate neural populations, to understand their function and contribution to behavior. Among these tools are the now awarded optogenetics technique.
“Optogenetics has revolutionized how we study the brain. The technique lets researchers switch specific brain cells on or off with flashes of light, with unprecedented specificity and precise timing. For the first time, we can do more than record which brain cells are active during a behavior, and instead test directly whether those specific cells cause the behavior. This has opened entirely new areas of research and given us a far more precise picture of how the brain functions and produces actions. Due to this optogenetics has become one of the most powerful and exciting tools in modern basic neuroscience research,” says Iskra Pollak Dorocic, SciLifeLab Fellow and Stockholm University researcher.
But what exactly is an ion channel? Listen to Nina Ottosson explain this in the video below.
“It’s a really cool thing they’ve given the prize for! Ion channels are proteins embedded in the cell membrane that contain a pore which can open and close. When the pore is open, ions can flow across the membrane, generating electrical signals. What makes channelrhodopsins so remarkable is that they are controlled by light. A tiny structural change caused by light opens the pore, allowing positively charged ions to rush into the cell and change its electrical activity,” says Nina Ottosson.
In nerve cells, the flow of positively charged ions can determine how easily an electrical signal is generated. By controlling that process with light, researchers can activate specific groups of neurons with extraordinary precision. In experimental models, this can even be used to trigger or study phenomena such as epileptic seizures.
“Channelrhodopsins were first discovered in algae, but algae don’t actually suffer from many epileptic seizures. Instead, they use these light-sensitive ion channels to orient themselves toward light and optimize photosynthesis. When light hits the channel, ions flow into the cell and generate an electrical signal that helps guide the organism’s movement. Researchers realized that this natural light switch could be introduced into other cells and organisms, allowing them to turn specific cells on and off with light. That’s pretty cool!” says Nina Ottosson.
Hear more from Nina Ottosson in our video about synthetic drugs and ion channels.
