Three scientists will share this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work that has been hailed as paving the way for a “new era of neuroscience”.

Peter Hegemann, a professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel, a professor at the University of Würzburg, have  alongside Karl Deisseroth, professor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, it was announced on 5 October.

The two Germany-based professors took a third share each for the discovery of a protein channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga, that they made at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt. Deisseroth won his share for having “transformed the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells”.

The prize recognises the scholars’ work in the field of optogenetics – a scientific method that makes it possible to assess how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain. Together, “the Laureates have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience,” the Nobel prize organisation said when announcing the award.

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Researchers have been able to use optogenetics to unveil neural circuits governing specific memories, feelings and behaviours relevant for neurological and psychiatric disorders. For clinical use, researchers are applying the method in efforts to restore sight in visually impaired patients.

Per Svenningsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said: “Optogenetics provides opportunities for mapping the brain in a way that we could once only dream of.”

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Hegemann and Nagel discovered the protein in the early 2000s, finding that when it is lit with blue light, a channel opens allowing charged ions to flow in, creating an electric impulse. They found that the cells became light sensitive, regardless of which cell they put the protein in.

Deisseroth took the work further by introducing the gene for channelrhodopsin into nerve cells from rats and, by illuminating the cells with blue light, was able to trigger a nerve signal. He published the breakthrough research in 2005.

The first Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded in 1901, and since then many prizes have been awarded for achievements in neuroscience. The announcement of the prize in medicine and physiology is the first of six set to be revealed this week.

frances.jones@timeshighereducation.com