The Nobel-Winning Tool That Lets Scientists Switch Brain Cells With Light

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries behind light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The technique gives researchers a way to use light to control nerve signals, making it possible to probe how individual brain cells switch on and off.

Plain English

Think of the brain as a vast electrical network: optogenetics gives scientists a way to flick selected switches with light and watch what...