2026年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖授予光遗传学领域三位科学家

2026年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖联合授予卡尔·迪塞罗特、彼得·海格曼和格奥尔格·纳格尔三位科学家，以表彰他们在光门控离子通道和光遗传学领域的发现12。迪塞罗特来自美国霍华德·休斯医学研究所及斯坦福大学，海格曼和纳格尔分别来自德国柏林洪堡大学和维尔茨堡大学2。

光遗传学技术基于对单细胞藻类对光反应的研究发展而来3。海格曼和纳格尔发现了通道视紫红质蛋白质，当其受蓝光照射时会打开离子通道2。迪塞罗特于2005年公布突破性进展，两年后证明这种光控制的神经细胞开关能在活体小鼠大脑中发挥作用2。该技术通过利用光来改变由特定基因标记的神经细胞的行为，使科学家能够在完整大脑中激活和关闭神经元，相比传统的神经元删除方法提供了更有价值的信息3。

光遗传学已从基础生物学发现发展成为研究大脑的重要工具，使研究人员能够观察活体大脑中神经细胞如何影响记忆、情绪和行为2。这一技术已在临床医学领域开始应用，许多研究人员正在尝试利用它帮助视力受损患者恢复部分视觉功能2。

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel have been jointly awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries in light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.123 Deisseroth is affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, while Hegemann works at Humboldt University Berlin and Nagel at the University of Würzburg in Germany.2

The three scientists developed a transformative technology that uses light to control the activity of neurons marked by specific genes, enabling researchers to activate and deactivate brain cells with unprecedented precision.3 Hegemann and Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, a protein that opens ion channels when exposed to blue light.2 Deisseroth published a breakthrough discovery in 2005 and demonstrated two years later that this light-controlled neural switch could function in the living mouse brain.2 The technology emerged from research into how single-celled algae respond to light.3

Since its development, optogenetics has evolved from a fundamental biological discovery into a critical research tool for studying how neural activity influences memory, emotion, and behavior in living brains.2 Clinical applications are now beginning to emerge, with researchers exploring how optogenetics might help restore partial vision to people with visual impairments.2