Photo: Clément Morin © Nobel Prize Outreach
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists —Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel— for discoveries that lead the way to optogenetics, which fundamentally transformed our understanding of the brain.
Both Professor Peter Hegemann and Professor Georg Nagel have previously shared their research as preprints on Preprints.org. Below, we highlight the preprints of two of this year’s Nobel laureates.
Mutated Channelrhodopsins with Increased Sodium and Calcium Permeability
Duan, X.; Nagel, G.; Gao, S
https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201902.0081.v1
Biological Spectral Sensitivity Functions for Measuring and Managing Light at Night
Lucas, R. J.; Brown, T. M.; Brainard, G.; Didikoglu, A.; Dominoni, D. M.; Franklin, K. A.; Gaston, K. J.; Hegemann, P.; Hölker, F.; Jechow, A.; Knop, E.; Kyba, C. M.; Longcore, T.; Maggi, E.; Nilsson, D.-E.; Obein, G.; Roberts, N. W.; Seymoure, B.; Spoelstra, K.; Thorns, P.; Hut, R. A.
https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202604.1368.v1
Preprints represent research shared at early points in the research process, reflecting the ongoing nature of scientific discovery. Preprints.org lets researchers share their work openly and make new findings quickly available to the scientific community before peer review.
When we celebrate this year’s Nobel laureates, we are also pleased to highlight their contributions to the ongoing open science dialogue, which we strongly believe benefits the scientific community and the broader public.