idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Grafik: idw-Logo

idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft

Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
04/15/2019 13:42

Rumford Prize for Georg Nagel

Robert Emmerich Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

    Controlling cells with light: Professor Georg Nagel has won another award for his contributions to the invention and refinement of optogenetics. He received the prize along with other laureates in the USA.

    The field of optogenetics was named "Breakthrough of the Decade" by the journal Science in 2010. Simply put, optogenetics is about controlling electric activity in cells using light pulses.

    For instance, light signals can be used to activate neurons. This has led to many new insights into Parkinson’s disease and other neurological and psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia.

    Georg Nagel, who has been a professor at the Julius von Sachs Institute of Biosciences at the University of Würzburg since 2004, is one of the pioneers of optogenetics research. In 1995, Georg Nagel and Ernst Bamberg were the first to demonstrate that a light-driven proton pump made of archaebacteria can be built into vertebrate cells where it actually works. In 2003, they were able to demonstrate this with light-driven ion channels based on algae. In the following years, Nagel continued to push optogenetics research together with other researchers.

    Awarding in Cambridge

    Nagel has now been distinguished for these achievements: On 11 April 2019, he received the Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge (USA) along with other optogenetics pioneers. The other awardees are Ernst Bamberg (Frankfurt/Main), Ed Boyden (Cambridge), Karl Deisseroth (Stanford), Peter Hegemann (Berlin) and Gero Miesenböck (Oxford).

    Founded in 1780, the Academy has awarded the Rumford Prize since 1839 to recognize discoveries in the fields of heat and light. Last presented in 2015, the academy presents the gold-plated silver medal whenever a significant achievement is made in one the two fields.

    According to Lucia Rothman-Denes, a member of the Academy’s Prize Committee, optogenetics has revolutionized the field of neuroscience. She believes that the work undertaken by these scientists has had a profound impact on cell biology and microbiology. David W. Oxtoby, the President of the Academy, was delighted to add the six researchers to the distinguished lineage of scientists who have been honoured by the Academy.

    Georg Nagel's latest research

    At the University of Würzburg, Georg Nagel is currently working with light-driven ion
    channels from the group of rhodopsins and light-activated adenylyl cyclases. His team
    cooperates with physiologists who use these photo receptors as tools to manipulate cellular functions through visible light. Nagel also tests whether these photo receptors can be integrated into plant cells.

    Nagel has received multiple awards in recognition of his research in optogenetics. He won the Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize (2010), the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences (2010), the Klaus-Joachim Zülch Prize (2012), the Prix Louis-Jeantet (2013) and the Grete Lundbeck Brain Prize (2013). In 2015, he was elected a member of the EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organisation, Heidelberg).


    Contact for scientific information:

    Prof. Dr. Georg Nagel, Julius von Sachs Institute of Biosciences, University of Würzburg, T +49 931 31-86143, georg.nagel@botanik.uni-wuerzburg.de


    More information:

    https://www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/bot1/research/prof-dr-georg-nagel/ Website of Prof. Dr. Georg Nagel
    https://www.amacad.org/news/rumford-prize-optogenetics Press Release of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences


    Images

    Rumford Prize awardees (from left): Georg Nagel, Karl Deisseroth, Ernst Bamberg, Peter Hegemann, and Ed Boyden.
    Rumford Prize awardees (from left): Georg Nagel, Karl Deisseroth, Ernst Bamberg, Peter Hegemann, and ...
    (Picture: American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
    None


    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, Scientists and scholars, Students, all interested persons
    Biology, Medicine
    transregional, national
    Personnel announcements
    English


     

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).