Sweden’s Svante Pääbo wins Nobel in physiology or medicine — Transcontinental Times
SWEDEN: The researcher Svante Pääbo is awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries “concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution,” announced the international award-giving body on Monday.
Pääbo was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1955 and conducted his prize-winning experiments at the University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
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Pääbo sequenced the Neanderthal genome and also discovered the previously unknown hominin Denisova. His work showed the genomic changes that came to distinguish humans from their closest cousins.
His research also discovered that both Neanderthals and Denisovans contributed genes that are still found in modern humans today.
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“By revealing genetic differences that separate all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human.” said the Nobel Committee.
The Nobel Prize, which is undoubtedly one of the most revered and prestigious awards in the scientific field in human history, is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet. The prize is worth 10 million Swedish kronor (900,357 USD).
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The declaration for the prize winner in the Medicine category is one of the first in this year’s star line-up. Other prize winners will be announced in due course.
Created to celebrate the artistic genius of the Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy business magnate, Alfred Nobelthe awards for major achievements in science, literature and peace have been awarded to iconic figures since 1901, although the financial award is a later addition.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put scientific research on the cutting edge and many expect that the introduction and further discovery of other vaccines has allowed a sense of normalcy to seep in and will eventually be rewarded.
Still, a research experiment takes years to complete, especially one that focuses on humanity. Furthermore, there is immense pressure on the adjudicating body to evaluate each contender and give its authentic and unbiased assessment of the outcome.
This year’s festivities will take place at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm after a two-year hiatus that dampened the Nobel celebrations and award ceremonies.
Last year’s medicine prize went to the Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for the discovery of receptors in the human skin that sense temperature and touch and convert the physical impact into nerve impulses.
Previous winners in the field include a range of famous scientists, notably Alexander Fleming, who shared the 1945 prize for the discovery of penicillin, and Robert Koch, who won back in 1905 for his investigations into tuberculosis.
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