Gero Miesenböck, Waynflete Professor of Physiology at Magdalen College, has won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine for his development of the field of Optogenetics. This new technique uses light to probe and modulate the workings of the brain. He shares the prize with Edward Boyden of MIT and Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University.
The Frontiers of Knowledge Awards aim “to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of lasting impact for their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world.” Also awarded a BBVA Foundation award this year in Basic Sciences was Stephen Hawking.
For more information on the award see here.
