The 2026 Breakthrough Prize, often dubbed the «Oscars of Science», was announced, recognizing transformative work across fundamental physics, life sciences, and mathematics. In fundamental physics, the award went to the Muon g-2 collaboration — a global team from CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Fermilab — for their meticulous measurements of the muon’s anomalous magnetic moment. These results could hint at physics beyond the Standard Model. In life sciences, three groups were honored: Jean Bennett, Albert Maguire, and Katherine High for developing Luxturna, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for an inherited retinal disease; Stuart Orkin and Swee Lay Thein for uncovering how the body switches from fetal to adult hemoglobin, paving the way for gene-editing therapies for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia; and Rosa Rademakers and Bryan Traynor for discovering that a mutation in the C9orf72 gene is a major cause of both ALS and frontotemporal dementia, uniting two previously separate diseases and opening new therapeutic avenues.
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