JNU Researcher Suneel Kateriya Contributed to 2026 Medicine Nobel Discovery
· India · India Today, LiveMint
Professor Suneel Kateriya of Jawaharlal Nehru University played a key role in identifying the light-sensing proteins that underpin the 2026 Nobel Prize-winning field of optogenetics. As a doctoral student in Professor Peter Hegemann’s lab in Germany in 2001, Kateriya identified DNA sequences for channelrhodopsin-1 and channelrhodopsin-2 in the alga Chlamydomonas. The Nobel Assembly awarded the 2026 Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for their work on light-gated ion channels. Kateriya is listed as a co-author on key research papers cited by the Nobel Committee. He maintains that the discovery was a result of fundamental teamwork rather than an initial intent to control human brain cells.
Why it matters
This recognition highlights the significant contribution of Indian researchers to fundamental scientific discoveries that eventually lead to major global medical innovations.
Read the original report — India Today
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