Genome secrets of extinct hominids, or can paleogenomics answer the question: humankind, who we are? Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022

Abstract

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022 was awarded to Professor Svante Pääbo, a Swedish­ paleogenetic researcher, specialist in the field of evolutionary genetics, Director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology of Leipzig (Germany), for “discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominids and human evolution”. Explaining the significance of S. Pääbo’s work, the Nobel Committee noted that “he pioneered the methods to isolate and analyze DNA from archaic bone remains. In ancient bones, DNA has decayed, been chemically damaged and massively contaminated with DNA from bacteria and contemporary humans who work with the samples. Having utilized modern genetic methods, S. Pääbo created his own methods of sequencing the ancient DNA”.

Keywords

• genome
• hominids
• human evolution
• nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2022
• svante pääbo