5 October :The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year has been awarded to American scientist Karl Deisseroth and German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their groundbreaking contributions to the discovery of light-controlled ion channels and the development of optogenetics.
The Nobel Committee announced the winners in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday afternoon Bangladesh time. According to the committee’s press release, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered a protein known as channelrhodopsin. Their research showed that when the protein is introduced into a cell, the cell gains the ability to detect light.
Building on this discovery, Karl Deisseroth opened a new avenue for research in neuroscience. He introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells in mice and then exposed the cells to blue light. This enabled him to activate or trigger signals in the nerve cells using light.
In subsequent research, Deisseroth demonstrated that the activity of nerve cells could also be controlled using light in the brains of living mice. This scientific approach to controlling neural signals with light later became known as “optogenetics”.
The technology has created important new possibilities in medical and neuroscience research. In addition to helping scientists understand how cellular activity is regulated, it has opened new avenues for studying the functions of the nervous system.
A total of 232 people have so far received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The youngest person ever to receive the award was Canadian scientist Frederick Banting, who won the Nobel Prize at the age of 31. Meanwhile, American scientist Peyton Rous became the oldest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, receiving the honour at the age of 87.