Swedish Scientist Wins Nobel Prize For Research On Evolution

Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, for his discoveries on human evolution that provided key insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct cousins, the award’s panel said.

Photo Insert: Paabo has spearheaded the development of new techniques that allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins — the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Paabo has spearheaded the development of new techniques that allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins — the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

While Neanderthal bones were first discovered in the mid-19th century, only by unlocking their DNA — often referred to as the code of life — have scientists been able to fully understand the links between species.

This included the time when modern humans and Neanderthals diverged as a species, determined to be around 800,000 years ago, said Anna Wedell, chair of the Nobel Committee, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The prize, arguably among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357).

It is the first of this year's batch of prizes. The Award committee officially gave Paabo the prize for "discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution," Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson and Natalie Grover reported for Reuters.

"He was overwhelmed, he was speechless. Very happy," said Thomas Perlmann, secretary for the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, who called Paabo with the news. He added: "He asked if he could tell anyone and asked if he could tell his wife and I said that was okay. He was incredibly thrilled about this award."

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