Episode 65: The Microbe that Learned to Flip a Neuron

<p>On October 5, 2026, in Stockholm, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet gave the Prize in Physiology or Medicine to three people who never set out to build a remote control for memory. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel share it “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor, split three ways. The press line is almost too clean: light-seeking algae gave us a switch for nerve cells. Here is the less clean version, which is the better one. This is Episode 65.</p><p><br></p><p><u><strong>Sources</strong></u></p><p><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/"><u>https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/popular-information/"><u>https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/popular-information/</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/method-controlling-brain-cells-light-wins-nobel"><u>https://www.science.org/content/article/method-controlling-brain-cells-light-wins-nobel</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/deisseroth-hegemann-nagelwin-2026-nobel-medicine-prize-2026-10-05/"><u>https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/deisseroth-hegemann-nagelwin-2026-nobel-medicine-prize-2026-10-05/</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/nobel-prize-for-optogenetics-75099"><u>https://www.the-scientist.com/nobel-prize-for-optogenetics-75099</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1936192100"><u>https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1936192100</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1072068"><u>https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1072068</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1525"><u>https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1525</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11028"><u>https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11028</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01351-4"><u>https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01351-4</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12860890/"><u>https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12860890/</u></a></p><p><br></p><p>Key papers behind those links: Nagel et al., Science 2002 (channelrhod