On Monday, the Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo was presented with the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology for the year 2022. The committee that decides who gets the Nobel Prize cited Svante Paabo’s “discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution” as the reason for awarding him the prize.
This prize, which is presented by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and is valued at $900,357 USD, is often regarded as the most prestigious honor in the field of science. Its value is 10 million Swedish crowns.
“Through his pioneering study, Svante Paabo did something almost impossible: sequencing the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans,” the committee that awards the Nobel Prize said when they made the announcement of the award. He also made the astonishing finding of a hominid known as Denisova, which had not been found before.
“The findings of Svante Paabo led to the establishment of an entirely new scientific field known as paleogenomics. His discoveries provide the basis for exploring what it is that makes us truly human by identifying genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins. This was added to the statement that was released.
In addition, the honor arrives during a period when medical research has been thrust into the spotlight because to the Covid epidemic. The Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and literature will be awarded on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively, after the announcement is made today.
On Friday, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize were announced, and on October 10th, the winner of the economics award will be announced.
