The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” The method lets researchers switch specific nerve cells on or off with light to test how they shape memories, feelings, and behaviors in the brain. It also has potential applications in medicine, including restoring visual function for some patients.
The field of research was born in the early 2000s, when Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, an algal protein that makes cells light sensitive. Karl Deisseroth applied this knowledge to create light-controlled switches for nerve cells. The method has since been used to map the brain.
A study published October 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that optogenetics was used to partially restore visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease in which genetic changes damage the retina’s photoreceptors. The treatment improved seven of 10 people’s light sensitivity.
Researchers injected a modified virus carrying the gene for ChrimsonR, a light-sensitive protein derived from algae, into the worse-seeing eye. The protein made retinal ganglion cells, the neurons that carry signals to the brain, sensitive to amber light. A camera in custom goggles detected changes in brightness in the scene in front of the wearer. The goggles then converted those changes into patterns of amber light and projected them onto the retina, activating the treated cells.
Eight participants completed object tests that asked them to detect, locate, and touch a notebook or small box of staples, and to distinguish the orientation of a bar. Four of the eight participants showed improvements while wearing the goggles. Some were also able to find a doorway or follow a line. None of the participants, however, acquired the ability to recognize faces or to read.
The findings are preliminary, since the investigation was an early trial of ten people with no separate control group. Additional research is needed to assess the safety of the method.
Written by Giedrius Pakalka
Sources: NobelPrize.org – Medicine 2026 · Science News – Gene therapy and goggles give some blind people limited sight