Optogenetics: Nobel 2026

Описание: A flash of blue light can make a chosen nerve cell fire. Today it won the Nobel Prize.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth "for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics."

The switch is channelrhodopsin, a protein from the green alga Chlamydomonas. When its retinal absorbs blue light, it changes shape and a channel opens for positive ions. Put the gene into a chosen type of neuron, and light can turn that neuron on within milliseconds.

Hegemann proposed that one algal protein both sensed light and formed a channel. Nagel and Hegemann proved it in frog eggs (2002 and 2003). Deisseroth's team used it to control mammalian neurons (2005) and neurons in living mice (2007). Since then, researchers have used optogenetics to test which brain circuits drive memory, reward, fear and sleep. One blind patient has partly regained vision in a clinical trial, but most of this work is still in the lab.

The molecular scenes are built from the measured structure of channelrhodopsin-2 (PDB 6EID). Ion flow and neurons are illustrations. Footage is real and credited on screen.

Keep questioning. Keep creating. Subscribe to HQRS.

Credits: Qin et al. 2015 (CC BY 4.0); Dartmouth EM Facility (public domain); Brian Gratwicke (CC BY 2.0); J. J. Segura Sampedro (public domain); Millencolin (CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0); Christopher Michel (CC BY 4.0); ZEISS Microscopy (CC BY 2.0); Yoo et al. 2016 (CC BY 4.0); Zimmermann et al. 2009 (CC BY 3.0); Lemon et al. 2015 (CC BY 4.0); Christian Hamel (CC BY 2.0); Artur Romanov (CC BY 4.0). Prize details: NobelPrize.org press release, 5 October 2026.

#HQRS #nobelprize #nobel2026 #physiology #medicine #optogenetics #Neuroscience #ScienceExplained #curiosity #Science #upscpreparation #smallcreator #newcreator #viralreels❤️ #instascience #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ #educational