Sweden’s Svante Pääbo Wins Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine

Last updated on October 10th, 2022 at 12:59 pm

Svante Pääbo, a Swedish scientist, has received the Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries about genomes of extinct hominins & human evolution.

Svante Paabo, a Swedish scientist, received this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his research on human evolution.

The Nobel Committee’s secretary, Thomas Perlmann, made the announcement on Monday at Stockholm, Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.

Paabo has led studies comparing the genomes of contemporary people with our nearest extinct ancestors, the Neanderthals, and Denisovans, demonstrating that there occurred interspecific hybridization.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine was the first of a week’s worth of awards to be given out. Tuesday’s reward is for physics, followed by Wednesday’s for chemistry and Thursday’s for literature. 

The economics prize will be awarded on October 10, while the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday.

David Julius & Ardem Patapoutian received the award for medicine last year for their research into how the body experiences touch and warmth.

Also Read: Nobel Prize 2022: The Nobel Prize Winners List 2022

The cash awards for the prizes total 10 million Swedish kronor, or roughly $900,000. They will be distributed on December 10. 

The funds originate from a gift made by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor who founded the award and died in 1895.

Svante Pääbo is the founding director of the Leipzig-based Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. He has ties to many famous research institutions all over the world.

In 1955, Pääbo was born in Stockholm. Sune Bergström, his father, was a Nobel Prize recipient. In 1982, he shared the Physiology and Medicine Nobel Prize with John R. Vane and Bengt I. Samuelsson.

Pääbo studied both Egyptology and medicine. He had always been intrigued by the idea of utilizing cutting-edge methods to examine the DNA of Neanderthals, ancient humans who lived thousands of years ago. He began a multi-decade project to establish the methodologies for this investigation alongside pioneering biologist Allan Wilson.

His studies eventually allowed him to sequence the DNA of a Neanderthal, which was previously thought to be impossible. In addition, he found Denisova, a hitherto undiscovered hominid.