Reacción a "Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology Awarded to Deisseroth, Hegemann, and Nagel for Their Discoveries on Light-Activated Ion Channels and Optogenetics"

The Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel recognizes an idea as simple as it is revolutionary: controlling neurons with light. Hegemann and Nagel discovered proteins in algae—called channelrhodopsins—that open ion channels when illuminated, and Deisseroth adapted them for use in the mammalian brain to turn specific circuits on or off with millisecond-level precision.  

Optogenetics has enabled a shift from simply observing the brain to understanding which circuits underlie memory, fear, or addiction, while also opening up the possibility of treating diseases such as blindness. This recognition also represents a triumph for basic science, which, starting with a single algae, has shed light on neuroscience.