Nobel Prize in Medicine 2026: Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to two Germans and a US researcher

dpa | This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to the two Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel as well as the US researcher Karl Deisseroth. The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced that their discoveries in the field of light-controlled ion channels and optogenetics will be honored. Hegemann conducts research at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Nagel at the University of Würzburg. The researchers each receive a third of the prize money, equivalent to around one million euros.

Optogenetics is a method that allows cells – usually neurons – to be precisely switched on or off using light. She combines genetic and optical techniques to specifically control cellular activity in living tissue and even in freely moving animals.

Hegemann and Nagel discovered the protein channelrhodopsin, which makes cells sensitive to light. Deisseroth inserted the gene for this protein into rat neurons. This enabled him to activate these nerve cells with light.

The most important award for doctors is worth twelve million Swedish crowns, the equivalent of around one million euros. The Nobel Foundation recently increased the prize money to this amount. "This year we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. To mark the occasion, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize money by one million," said the Nobel Foundation's managing director, Hanna Stjärne, in September. The amount has been adjusted several times since it was first awarded in 1901.

Last year the Nobel Prize for Medicine went to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell (both USA) and Shimon Sakaguchi (Japan). Her discoveries on so-called peripheral immune tolerance, which prevents the immune system from harming the body, were honored.

Prior to this year's prize, a total of 232 people have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine since 1901, including 14 women. The first went to the German bacteriologist Emil Adolf von Behring for the discovery of a therapy against diphtheria.

The Nobel Prize cycle began with the Medicine Prize. The winners of the physics and chemistry prizes will be named on Tuesday and Wednesday. These are followed by those for literature and for peace. The series of announcements ends next Monday with the so-called Nobel Prize in Economics sponsored by the Swedish central bank.

The ceremonial presentation of all awards traditionally takes place on December 10th, the anniversary of the death of the prize founder Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). This year's winners of the Right Livelihood Award, commonly referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize, were announced in Stockholm on September 30th.