Researchers behind optogenetics, a technique that uses light to precisely control the activity of specific nerve cells and that transformed neuroscience research, won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Optogenetics has allowed scientists to establish causal links between specific brain circuits and behaviors such as memory, fear, anxiety, addiction and sleep, and clinical results using the technology have partially restored vision in patients with visual impairment.
The Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute announced on Oct. 5 that it had selected Karl Deisseroth, a professor at Stanford University in the U.S., Peter Hegemann, a professor at Humboldt University in Germany, and Georg Nagel, a professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany, as this year's laureates in physiology or medicine. "Their work led to the development of optogenetics, which can switch the activity of individual nerve cells on and off in the living brain," the assembly said, adding that the technique is now used in laboratories worldwide to uncover the secrets of the brain.
Optogenetics combines light and genetics. Inserting the gene for a light-sensitive protein into specific cells allows those cells to be switched on or off when exposed to light, making it possible to target only selected types of nerve cells and control them on a millisecond scale. Those properties have made the technique useful not only for research on brain networks but also for gene therapy.
Hegemann discovered the gene for a light-sensing protein, channelrhodopsin, while studying how green algae move toward light. Nagel was the first to demonstrate that the gene, when inserted into animal cells, functions as an ion channel that opens in response to light, and he named it channelrhodopsin. Deisseroth introduced channelrhodopsin into mammalian nerve cells to realize optogenetics, switching brain cells on and off with light, and developed it into a standard tool for research on brain circuits and behavior. The award ceremony will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
Following the medicine prize, this year's Nobel announcements continue with physics on the 6th, chemistry on the 7th, literature on the 8th, peace on the 9th and economics on the 12th.
A total of 287 nominations were submitted for the peace prize, including 208 individuals and 79 organizations. Greta Thunberg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the International Criminal Court are reported to be among them, and U.S. President Donald Trump also appears to have been named following nominations from Israel, Pakistan and others.
Candidates mentioned for the physics prize include Chihaya Adachi of Kyushu University for research on organic light-emitting diodes, while David Liu of Harvard University is cited for the chemistry prize for base and prime editing technologies and Susan Athey of Stanford University for the economics prize.
For the literature prize, Can Xue, described as "China's Kafka," is the favorite on the British betting site Ladbrokes. In South Korea, Hwang Sok-yong and Ko Un are on lists of possible winners.
