Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded for optogenetics
An American and two German scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for optogenetics, a technique using light to control brain cells.
The Full Story
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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to an American and two German scientists for the discovery of optogenetics, a method that uses light to switch nerve cells in the brain on and off. The prize recognises work that can shape memories, feelings and behaviours, and has opened a new field in neuroscience.
The laureates are Peter Hegemann, seen at work in Berlin, Georg Nagel of the University of Wurzburg, and Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University in the United States. Deisseroth said the award came as a complete shock. He said he was almost unable to speak for a little while before recovering.
Optogenetics works by illuminating brain pathways. It uses a special protein borrowed from algae. Scientists use the protein to control the electrical activity of cells with light. The technique has allowed researchers for the first time to begin to understand how the brain processes information and how different neurons interact across the brain. It goes beyond an anatomical map, helping show how networks are connected and which networks are active during different behaviours, emotions and memory storage.
There are already practical applications. The discovery is giving researchers a better understanding of schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and even addiction. An experimental treatment is using optogenetics to restore sight in people whose light-sensitive cells in the retina have been destroyed. The Nobel Committee said the work was helping to solve one of humanity's greatest mysteries: how the human brain works.
On screen
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Key Claims
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| Claim |  |
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| Only on one channel | |
| Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to American and two German scientists, Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth, for optogenetics, a technique using a light-sensitive algal protein to control nerve cells. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West treated the Nobel award as a major science story with a clear explanatory focus. It mixed the laureates' personal reaction with a plain-English account of optogenetics and its medical potential. The item was preceded in the bulletin by unrelated tennis news, but the Nobel segment itself was framed around a breakthrough in understanding the brain.
- “This year's Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been won by an American and two German scientists for pioneering work Using light to turn nerve cells in the brain on and off which can shape memories feelings and behaviors”
- “Known as Optogenetics the technique illuminates brain pathways It uses a special protein borrowed from algae through which scientists control cell Electrical activity with light”
- “Well, it was surprising to me. And so I was I Almost couldn't speak for a little bit, you know and and I almost felt as if I'd lost the power of forming words but I recovered”
Broadcast Timeline
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