The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists involved with pioneering research into optogenetics, the study of how nerve cells shape feelings and behaviors in the living brain.
The scientists include Karl Deisseroth, PhD, MD, a physician-scientist with Stanford University and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Peter Hegemann, PhD, Hertie senior professor of neuroscience at Humboldt University in Berlin; and Georg Nagel, PhD, professor of molecular plant physiology at the University of Würzberg, Germany, according to a press release.