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US-German Trio Wins 2026 Medicine Nobel for Optogenetics
Key Takeaways
- The 2026 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to U.S. psychiatrist and neurologist Karl Deisseroth and German researchers Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel.
- The award recognizes optogenetics, a field that helps researchers understand how specific cell types contribute to behaviors such as learning, fear, addiction and movement.
- The Nobel Assembly said optogenetics has fundamentally altered understanding of the brain and could one day lead to treatments for conditions including Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.
- Researchers are using the method in clinical attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment.
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DT Editorial Team··via phys.org
