The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology has been given to Swedish researcher Svante Pääbo “for his discoveries relating the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.” The DNA of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of modern humans, was sequenced thanks to the groundbreaking study of Svante Pääbo, this year’s #NobelPrize winner in physiology or medicine, the academy announced in a press release.Svante Pääbo pioneered the field of paleogenomics with his ground-breaking research. His team has finished analysing a number of additional genomic sequences from extinct hominins after the initial discoveries were made. Pääbo’s insights have created a special resource that is widely used by the scientific community to comprehend human migration and evolution. The use of strong new tools for DNA analysis suggests that Homo sapiens and ancient hominins may have interbred in Africa. However, due to the increased breakdown of ancient DNA in tropical environments, no genomes from extinct hominins in Africa have yet been sequenced.
We now know that ancient gene sequences from our lost ancestors have an impact on the physiology of modern people thanks to Svante Pääbo’s studies. One such illustration is the gene EPAS1, which gives a benefit for survival at high altitude and is widespread among modern Tibetans. Other examples include Neanderthal genes that influence how our immune systems react to various infections, according to the academy’s source.
