STAT+: Nobel-winning optogenetics research has led to experimental treatments for blindness and Alzheimer’s

STAT reports that Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, along with German colleagues Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for developing optogenetics, a toolset that uses light to control brain cells. The article says the Nobel-winning research has led to experimental treatments for blindness and Alzheimer’s disease. The excerpt is from a STAT+ exclusive story, with the full text behind a subscriber paywall; it also carries a byline note that Annalisa (Nalis) Merelli covers boys’ and men’s health, including reproductive health, trending treatments, screening approaches, and mental health.

Deisseroth described the brain as a network of billions of intertwined neurons forming an intricate anatomy that works on the millisecond scale to perceive reality, detect sensations, create plans, and take actions. He said that because the brain is so complicated, neuroscientists and physicians treating brain disorders face the challenge of making headway without tools that match the brain’s complexity and precision.

He added that perception of reality and all inner subjective states come from cells, so the right tool for the brain would be something fast and targeted to individual cells or individual types of cells. According to the article, optogenetics provides that kind of fast, cell-type-specific control, and the Nobel recognizes its development as the basis for experimental treatments in blindness and Alzheimer’s.