Nobel Prize in Medicine Connects Berlin Algae Research to Parasite Studies in Hyderabad

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honours three scientists for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel received the prize for research that brings new attention to using light to investigate fundamental biological processes.

The Research Connection

For Nishith Gupta, professor of Biological Sciences at BITS Pilani in Hyderabad and founder of iPEARL, the recognition holds a personal connection. Mr. Gupta collaborated with Mr. Hegemann at Humboldt University of Berlin to extend optogenetic approaches beyond neuroscience into studying Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that infects humans, mammals, and birds.

How It Works

The Nobel Committee noted that the work began with Peter Hegemann wondering how a single-celled alga swims towards light. In the early 2000s, he and Georg Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, an algal protein that opens a channel when hit by blue light, letting charged ions flow into the cell to create an electrical impulse. In 2005, Deisseroth showed that putting this protein into rat neurons let blue light trigger nerve signals, and later showed light-based control in mice. Mr. Gupta, Mr. Hegemann, and others used a light-regulated enzyme to produce cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate, showing that light controls the enzyme to help regulate how the parasite enters, moves inside, and exits cells. Their study was published in 2013.

Context

Optogenetics lets scientists control selected cells using light-sensitive proteins, turning light into a way to intervene and test biological cause-and-effect relationships. The collaboration between the Berlin and Hyderabad researchers was supported by funding from the German Research Foundation and a Wellcome Trust-DBT Senior Fellowship project.