This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]
This image is unrelated to the article. [123RF]

A German scientist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for pioneering optogenetics — a field seen as key to unlocking the brain's secrets — initially doubted the message that brought him the news.

According to the German daily Tagesspiegel, Peter Hegemann, 71, a professor at Humboldt University of Berlin, said Monday (local time), just before the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced, that he had received an email from an unknown sender reading, "Please call me. It's important." He said he noticed the phone number in the message had a Swedish area code, Yonhap reported.

"From my experience sailing yachts, I recognized it as a Swedish area code," Hegemann said. "I called back and it was the chair of the Nobel Committee." He said he was overwhelmed with emotion when he learned of the award just minutes before the official announcement.

"When news like that reaches you, you can't believe it," he said. "It will take some time to fully grasp what has happened."

He also said that early in his career, "nobody was interested in the research we were doing on green algae" and that "hardly anyone took it seriously."

According to the Tagesspiegel, people who know Hegemann describe him above all as a man of perseverance.

Christina Beck, a communications officer at the Max Planck Institute, said Hegemann is "an outstanding scientist, a wonderful colleague and a person of great character," adding that what she admires most about him is "that he had to overcome so many obstacles before achieving his breakthrough."

On that point, Hegemann said: "In research, you always experience failure. Failure is part of research. Most experiments end in failure, and if you cannot handle that, you will not be able to achieve anything in research."

Co-laureate got the call just as he lay down to rest

Karl Deisseroth, 55, a professor at Stanford University and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, said he received the notification call just as he had lain down for a brief rest while working at home.

According to the Associated Press, Deisseroth said he had been working at his Stanford home — writing a paper and emailing students — when he lay down to close his eyes for a moment and immediately received a call from the Nobel Committee, Yonhap reported.

"I had not actually fallen asleep at all," Deisseroth said. In a phone interview with the AP, he said the next thing he needed to do was pack dosirak for his children in the morning.

"That is the one and only thing I have to do in the next few hours," he said. "I need to make sandwiches for the kids."

Nobel laureates are typically notified by phone several dozen minutes before the public announcement.

According to AFP, Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute, told reporters at the announcement venue that Deisseroth was the first of the three co-laureates he called. "He was very tired when he answered," Perlmann said. "He must have been sleeping, but still he woke up."


yul@heraldcorp.com