The Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physiology and Medicine, Thomas Perlmann, announces the 2022 Nobel Prize in Medicine on October 3 in Stockholm. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP
The Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology was awarded on Monday October 3 to Sweden’s Svante Pääbo, 67, for sequencing the genome of Neanderthal man and his role in the genesis of paleogenomics.
“By uncovering the genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominids, his findings provided the basis for exploring what makes us humans such unique beings,” the jury said.
Read the meeting held in 2016: Article reserved for our subscribers Svante Paabo, hunter of lost genomes
“Genetic differences between Homo sapiens and our now-extinct closest relatives were unknown until they were identified through Pääbo’s work,” the Nobel committee added in its decision.
physiological effect
Svante Pääbo, whose father Sune Bergström also received the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine, discovered that a gene transfer had taken place between these now extinct hominins and Homo sapiens. This ancient flow of genes to modern-day humans has physiological implications, for example by influencing how our immune systems respond to infections.
Read also article reserved for our subscribers. Work on sensory receptors that won the Nobel Prize in Medicine
The harvest continues with Physics on Tuesday in Stockholm, then Chemistry on Wednesday, before Thursday’s much-anticipated Prize for Literature and Friday’s Peace, the only award to be presented in Oslo. The youngest economy prize closes the vintage on Monday.
With this 113th Nobel Prize in Medicine, there are now 226 people who have been awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine since its inception. Including twelve women. No organization has ever been awarded, which is prohibited by the rules of the Karolinska Institute, which awards the prize.
few women
Last year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine, worth 10 million crowns (approx. 920,000 euros), went to the Americans Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius for their discovery of how the nervous system transmits temperature and touch.
Despite efforts by juries to crown more women, male researchers from the US or resident in the US have still largely dominated the Nobel Prizes in Science in recent decades. The classy 2021 vintage was no exception to the rule, with twelve winners and a single winner. All scientific awards were given to men.
Also read Quiz: What do you know about the history of the Nobel Prizes and their laureates?