Status: 03.10.2022 11:54 am
What makes us uniquely human? Svante Pääbo has done groundbreaking research, including sequencing the Neanderthal genome. The Swede, who conducts research in Leipzig, received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work.
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to the Leipzig-based Swede Svante Pääbo for his findings on human evolution. This was announced by the Karolinska Institute.
Pääbo is honored for his insights into human evolution. He is Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and was the first researcher to sequence the Neanderthal genome, among other things.
New scientific discipline
His groundbreaking research led to the new scientific discipline of paleogenomics, the committee said in its justification. By uncovering genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominids, his discoveries provided the basis for exploring what makes humans uniquely human.
“Overwhelmed, speechless and very happy”
Pääbo was “overwhelmed, speechless and very happy” on the phone, reported the secretary of the Nobel Assembly at the Stockholm Karolinska Institute, Thomas Perlmann, at the announcement. Pääbo asked if he could tell someone about the award before it was announced. He then told him that it was okay to tell his wife about it, Perlmann said.
Endowed with ten million crowns
The most important award for physicians this year is endowed with ten million Swedish crowns (around 920,000 euros). Since 1901, 224 people have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine, including 12 women. The first went to German bacteriologist Emil Adolf von Behring for discovering a therapy for diphtheria. In 1995 Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was the first and only German woman to receive this award.
Last year, David Julius (USA) and Lebanese-born researcher Ardem Patapoutian received the award. The two discovered cell receptors that humans use to sense temperature and touch.
Awarded on December 10th
The Nobel Prize series started with the Medicine Prize. The winners of the physics and chemistry prizes will be named on Tuesday and Wednesday. The announcements for the Nobel Prize in Literature and Peace will follow on Thursday and Friday. The series ends next Monday with the so-called Nobel Prize in Economics, donated by the Swedish Reichsbank.
The ceremonial presentation of all awards traditionally takes place on December 10th, the anniversary of the death of the award donor Alfred Nobel. Last Thursday, the Right Livelihood Foundation announced the winners of this year’s Alternative Nobel Prizes.