Swedish-born researcher receives Nobel Prize in medicine 40 years after his father did – MercoPress
Swedish-born researcher receives the Nobel Prize in Medicine 40 years after his father received it
A Swedish-born scientist who lives in Leipzig, Germany, was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday for his discoveries about prehistoric DNA.
Svante Pääbo, currently 67 years old, discovered in 2009 that 2% of the genes had passed from these now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens. Pääbo, born in Stockholm, received the 2018 Princess of Asturias prize for technical and scientific research in Spain. His father, Sune Bergström, received the Nobel Prize in Medicine back in 1982 for his discoveries about hormones. Svante Pääbo bears the surname of his mother, the Estonian chemist Karin Pääbo.
The complete sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the foundation of this discipline that analyzes ancient DNA to decipher human genes showed that the ancient gene flow into modern humans has a physiological impact on, for example, how the immune system reacts to infections.
Pääbo is currently director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
“By revealing the genetic differences that separate all living humans from extinct hominids, his discoveries have provided the basis for the exploration of what makes us, humans, unique,” the jury said.
Thanks to the sequencing of a bone found in Siberia in 2008, Pääbo was able to reveal the existence of another and previously unknown hominin, the Denisova man, who lived in present-day Russia and Asia.
Their work had recently shown that Covid-19 sufferers with a segment of Neanderthal DNA – mostly in Europe and South Asia – inherited from a cross with the human genome around 60,000 years ago, are at greater risk of serious complications of the disease. “The genetic differences between Homo sapiens and our closest extinct relatives were not known until they were identified thanks to Pääbo’s work,” the Nobel committee added in its decision.
The Swedish researcher managed to overcome the difficulties of studying DNA that has deteriorated over time, because after thousands of years there were only highly contaminated remains. Pääbo’s “major contribution” was to have devised “chemical tricks to be able to analyze ancient DNA”, explained one committee member.
Neanderthal man coexisted for a time with modern man in Europe before disappearing completely about 30,000 years ago.
The awards are expected to last until October 10, when the long-awaited peace prize will be announced.
He is also credited with discovering the previously unknown subspecies of archaic humans known as the Denisova hominin. Pääbo also discovered that there had been a gene transfer from the Denisova hominins to Homo sapiens, indicating that the two subspecies interbred at some point while they coexisted.
This discovery has significant relevance for shaping our knowledge of the difference in physiology in modern humans, especially when it comes to different immunities. “As we learn more and more about genomes from different parts of the world, it’s important to have these reference points that tell our story … in terms of knowing more about our evolution, and of course medical implications.”
Among the big losers in Monday’s announcement was Hungarian biochemist Katalin Kariko, known for her groundbreaking research that led to the development of the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19, made by Pfizer and Moderna.