10/06/2026
A jellyfish, a flash of blue light, and the 2026 Medicine Nobel!
A single jellyfish floating in the pond water, a green jellyfish. And a flash of blue light. These two things together made the 2026 Medicine Nobel.
From the bottom of the pond, a single jellyfish. And a flash of blue light. This two things together make the 2026 Medicine Nobel.
Each neuron in our brain communicates with each other through tiny electrical signals. Each neuron has countless tiny channels on its surface called Ion Channels. When the channels open, a positive mirror like sodium enters inside, changes the voltage of the cells, and the neuron "fires". Behind every memory, fear, hunger, joy, there is some kind of firing pattern of neurons.
The problem was here. It was almost impossible to prove which neuron was responsible for which function. When an electrode was placed in the brain, various types of neurons in the surrounding area responded together. When light was applied, the light was perceived by a small red "eye spot" on the surface of the neuron. This allowed it to move towards the light.
Peter Hegemann worked with the same question for years: how does this light reach? At that time, the only question was: how does this light reach? The brain was not yet close to the task of curing any disease.
In 2002, Hegemann, Georg Nagel, and Ernst Bamberg injected the gene of the shawl's light-sensitive protein into the frog's oocyte. It was found that the protein itself opens up when light is applied, and the oocyte starts to absorb the light. The light-sensitive gene is called Channelrhodopsin.
The third character, Karl Deisseroth, responded to the blue light with the third character, Karl Deisseroth. He is a professor of physiology and also a bioengineer. A question from a biologist to a chemist is very real: which circuit is causing the depression patient's brain to malfunction? The answer was unknown to anyone.
In 2005, Deisseroth's team injected the gene of the shawl's light-sensitive protein into the frog's oocyte. Then the blue light was applied. The light caused a signal, and when the light went out, the oocyte became silent, in a millisecond. Later, a live frog was sent through an optical fiber to activate the specific gene.
The real trick is here. The gene is inserted only into a selected type of cell. When light falls, it triggers an old fear memory. Even standing in a safe place, the mouse froze in fear.
2. In 2012, at MIT, Susumu Tonegawa's lab, a specific cell in the mouse's hippocampus was exposed to light, evoking a memory of a past fear. Even standing in a safe place, the mouse became frozen in fear.
3. This method is being used to investigate the circuit behind each of these: hunger, thirst, anxiety, social behavior, even the behavior of a parent's child.
In May 2021, a study was published in Nature Medicine. A 58-year-old patient, who had been diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa 40 years ago, could barely see anything in his eyes. Researchers from Paris and Basel (José-Alain Sahel and Botond Roska) injected a protein gene from the Channelrhodopsin family into his eye, along with special goggles. After a few months, he was able to find and touch the objects on the table, count them, and calculate. When asked to count the glasses on the table, he gave a 63% correct answer. His vision had not fully returned. Yet, Optogenetics works for any disease in humans, and this patient is the first proof of this.
Those who are not on the list
According to the Nobel rules, one prize can be shared among a maximum of three people. So far, 117 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to three people, 41 times. But in the story of Optogenetics, there are more than three people. In the 2002-03 exam, the first question was, "How can you get a job by looking at the light of a lamp?" The first question that comes is, "Will you get a job by reading this?" The fault is not only of the parents. We teachers are the first to cut out every "why" outside the exam syllabus.
Second question about Deisseroth. A doctor, who is also a professor of engineering. In our system, you have to decide whether to go for biology or medicine at the age of 15-16. If you want to go for biology or medicine, you have to decide not to drop out of math even if you are afraid of it. If you are weak, make arrangements to overcome it.
3. Go to nobelprize.org tonight and sit with the child to read the "Popular Information" page of this year. It will take 15-20 minutes with pictures.
When Hegemann started working with Shyol's eyespot, no one knew that one day that protein would help a blind person count the glass on the table.
How many such questions are being killed every day in our classroom, saying "it is not in the syllabus"? No one keeps track of that!
The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts.
