Science
Nobel Prize in medicine goes to Swedish scientist for discovering genome of extinct human ancestors
Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries helping crack the genome of extinct human ancestors.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet said on Monday that Dr Pääbo’s pioneering research achieved the “seemingly impossible”, helping crack the genomes of extinct hominins, including Neanderthals, and thereby shedding light on human evolution.
The Swedish scientist was also behind the discovery of a previously unknown extinct hominin species Denisova.
“This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections,” the Nobel Assembly said in a statement.
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