DOMINANT ANGLE
Ottawa recalls from the Nobel Prize in Medicine the journey of a tool: from a pond algae observed by a biophysicist to a method that allows questioning the living brain.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The 2026 prize honors Karl Deisseroth (54, Stanford), Peter Hegemann (71, Humboldt), and Georg Nagel (73, Wurtzbourg), who share 12 million Swedish crowns, approximately 1.7 million Canadian dollars (CBC).
- 02
Peter Hegemann studied algae's reaction to light as early as the 1980s in Martinsried; Georg Nagel produced the protein in frog oocytes (Globe and Mail).
- 03
According to Thomas Perlmann, the method allows for turning on or off the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain; clinical trials target retinitis pigmentosa (CBC).
ANALYSIS
Ottawa, October 6, 2026. The Canadian press reports on the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, announced on Monday, October 5, in Stockholm, emphasizing the genesis of the tool. The Globe and Mail opens with "a discovery that began with algae and transformed into a powerful method for studying the brain." Karl Deisseroth, from Stanford University, Peter Hegemann, from Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel, from the University of Würzburg, are being rewarded for their "discoveries concerning light-activated ion channels and optogenetics."
The Toronto daily retraces the history since the 1980s. Peter Hegemann, a biophysicist at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, was then interested in the ability of pond algae to sense sunlight and react to it, which allows them to regulate photosynthesis. This phenomenon led to channelrhodopsins, proteins that algae use to convert light into electrical signals. Hegemann found the associated gene, which Georg Nagel managed to produce in frog oocytes to study its function. Abdel El Manira, a committee member, is quoted: the two researchers "had discovered the switch that neuroscientists had long dreamed of."
CBC News emphasizes the scope for understanding the brain. Thomas Perlmann, Secretary General of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, explains that the method allows for turning on or off the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain, and that it is used in laboratories around the world. He reports that the three laureates, surprised, said they were honored to receive the prize together. Anna Wedell, a geneticist and committee member, judges that a new era is opening in neuroscience, but that it is only the beginning: "For the first time, we can start to understand how the brain processes information."
CBC also mentions clinical trials where researchers are trying to restore vision to people blinded by retinitis pigmentosa. Canadian media also convert the endowment: 12 million Swedish crowns, approximately 1.7 million Canadian dollars, to be shared among the three laureates. The two media outlets locate the laureates by their institutions (one American, two Germans) without developing a Canadian dimension or debate on research funding. The Globe also publishes a brief video replaying the Associated Press dispatch.
