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Nobel Prize awarded for revealing inner workings of the brain | BBC News
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Nobel Prize for Optogenetics
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth and biophysicists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their work on optogenetics. The technique allows researchers to study how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviour in the living brain.
Deisseroth’s Reaction and Career
Deisseroth described the award as a tremendous honour, though he said the news had left him feeling a little disoriented after a sleepless night.
His former postdoctoral adviser, Professor Robert Malenka, said Deisseroth had shown intelligence, creativity and vision early in his career. Malenka also highlighted Deisseroth’s drive and willingness to take a major professional risk when he started his own lab in 2004.
Deisseroth pursued the idea that light-sensitive ion channels could be used in the awake, behaving brain. The approach had the potential to transform neuroscience and deepen understanding of the links between brain activity and behaviour.
Presenters and Contributors
- BBC News presenter (unnamed)
- Karl Deisseroth
- Professor Robert Malenka
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