Nobel win for light-based biology shines light on parasite research in Hyderabad

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine highlights how light can control biological processes, connecting neuroscience research in Berlin to parasite studies at BITS Pilani in Hyderabad. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel won the award for their discoveries regarding light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, opening new ways to study memory, feelings, neurological disorders, and infectious diseases.

Research in Hyderabad

For Nishith Gupta, professor of Biological Sciences at BITS Pilani-Hyderabad and founder of the Intracellular Parasite Education and Research Labs, the Nobel recognition carries personal meaning through his long collaboration with Peter Hegemann. Mr. Gupta worked alongside Hegemann at Humboldt University of Berlin, where Hegemann serves as Hertie Senior Professor of Neuroscience. Their joint work extended optogenetic methods beyond the brain to study Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that infects humans, mammals, and birds. Their collaboration received support from the German Research Foundation and later through a Wellcome Trust–DBT Senior Fellowship after Mr. Gupta moved to India.

How Light Controls Cells

Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin in the early 2000s, an algal protein that opens channels and creates electrical impulses when hit by blue light. In 2005 and 2007, Karl Deisseroth showed that putting this protein into rat and mouse neurons allowed light to trigger nerve signals. Meanwhile, Mr. Gupta and Mr. Hegemann used a light-regulated enzyme called adenylate cyclase to produce cyclic AMP, a messenger molecule inside cells. Published in 2013, their study demonstrated that light controls this enzyme, which in turn regulates how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite moves, enters, and exits cells.

Context

Optogenetics uses light-sensitive proteins to control selected cells, turning light from a simple tool for observation into a way to test cause-and-effect relationships in biology. The 2026 Nobel laureates showed how a protein from a single-celled alga can probe the brain and help understand infections, demonstrating that basic research can spark entirely new areas of science.