Nobel Prize in Medicine for Svante Pääbo for his discoveries in the genetics of extinct species

The jury of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine to Svante Pääbo on Monday for "his discoveries on the genome of extinct hominids and human evolution".

Pääbo (Stockholm, Sweden, 65 years old) is a biologist, geneticist and head of the genetics department at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (Germany).

His work to rescue genetic material from human fossils has been essential to discovering the genome of known extinct species, such as the Neanderthals, revealing the existence of new ones, such as the Denisovans, and confirming that

had sex and children with those other species thousands of years ago, so their DNA is still present in current populations.

Pääbo's "transcendental" work "has given rise to a new scientific discipline: paleogenomics", the jury highlighted.

"By revealing the genetic differences between current people and extinct hominids, their discoveries allow us to investigate what makes us genuinely human," added those responsible for the award in a press release.

In 2018 Pääbo received the Princess of Asturias Award for his work on human evolution.

The failure has been announced today after 11:30 peninsular time.

The award is given by the jury of the Karolinska Institute, near Stockholm (Sweden).

The prize is endowed with ten million Swedish crowns, about 985,000 euros.

Last year, the jury chose David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for discovering cell receptors for temperature and touch.

American David Julius, a 67-year-old physiologist at the University of California, identified the sensor of nerve endings in the skin that respond to heat using capsaicin, a compound found in hot peppers.

Ardem Patapoutian, a 46-year-old Armenian-American biologist and neuroscientist, discovered cellular sensors in the skin and also in internal organs that respond to pressure.

The Nobel Prize for Medicine is announced on the first Monday of October and opens the round of announcements this week, which will continue on Tuesday with Physics, on Wednesday with Chemistry, on Thursday with Peace and, finally, on Economy, which will be released on Monday of next week.

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