On 5 October 2026, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth. Peter Hegemann, 71, is a professor at Humboldt University of Berlin. Georg Nagel, 73, is a professor at the University of Würzburg. Karl Deisseroth conducts research at Stanford University. They are honoured for their discoveries on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, which makes it possible to switch individual nerve cells on and off with light. The story behind it shows how much a result depends on the people someone works with. An example of the Law of the Inner Circle.
Three circles in teal, white and gold overlap, and a light shines exactly where they intersect – like the discovery that only came about when Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel and Karl Deisseroth brought their different skills together.
01
A question one person cannot solve alone
Situation
In the early 1990s, at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Peter Hegemann studied how the green alga Chlamydomonas perceives light. He measured an electrical signal that appeared just 0.5 milliseconds after a light stimulus. From this he concluded that a single protein registers the light and triggers the signal at the same time. He could not prove it with his methods alone.
Link to the law
Every leader eventually reaches the limit of their own ability. Those who know this limit and name it openly can look specifically for the people who bring the missing skill. Those who hide it stay stuck with a hunch.
02
The partner with the missing skill
Situation
At the time, Georg Nagel was working at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main. Together the two identified the genes responsible. Georg Nagel transferred the genetic material into frog egg cells, which then produced the algal protein. The channel opened 0.2 milliseconds after a pulse of light. According to the German Research Foundation, Ernst Bamberg was also involved in this proof.
Link to the law
An inner circle is strong when its members complement each other, not when they resemble each other. With every appointment it is worth asking which skill the team still lacks. Liking someone or a similar background is no selection criterion.
03
Letting go of the idea
Situation
In 2003, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel proposed using the protein specifically to activate cells electrically with light. In 2005, Karl Deisseroth introduced the gene into rat nerve cells, where blue light immediately triggered nerve impulses. In 2007, his team also succeeded in the brains of living mice.
Link to the law
The circle that moves a cause forward does not end at your own department. Those who publish their knowledge and invite others to build on it extend their own reach. Good leadership is also measured by what others can do with its results.
04
Impact far beyond one’s own lab
Situation
Today, laboratories around the world use the method to research depression, anxiety disorders and Parkinson’s disease. In one patient with retinitis pigmentosa, optogenetic therapy restored part of his sight. The chair of the Nobel Committee, Per Svenningsson, spoke in essence of possibilities for mapping the brain that people could once only dream of. The prize money of around one million euros is split three ways.
Link to the law
A leader’s potential is largely shaped by those closest to them. Here, three experts with three different strengths created something none of them would have achieved alone. The shared prize reflects exactly that.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
01
Say openly what you cannot do yourself.
02
Look for partners who complement you, not ones who resemble you.
03
Share your knowledge so that others can build on it.
04
Expect long journeys: more than thirty years lay between the first measurement and the prize.
05
Share success the way the work was shared.
Summary
Peter Hegemann had the question, Georg Nagel the method for proving it, Karl Deisseroth the application in the brain. Curiosity about an alga thus became a tool of brain research and medicine. The example shows that great results are rarely the work of one person. Those who lead should build their closest circle as carefully as their own abilities.
