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The Conversation
The Conversation
Karl Deisseroth, D. H. Chen Professor, Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

Using light to control brain cells – neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth explains how he made his Nobel-winning discovery

Karl Deisseroth Brain Georg Nagel Peter Hegemann Conversation Weekly Nobel Prize
Optogenetics involves the use of light to alter the activity of neurons. Westend61/Getty Images

The 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine honored Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their work developing optogenetics – a technique that allows researchers to control the activity of neurons with light.

The Conversation Weekly podcast talked to Karl Deisseroth, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, about his journey developing optogenetics and its potential to treat a wide range of neuropsychiatric conditions. What follows is an edited transcript of the podcast.

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