According to the Committee, “by revealing the genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominids, their discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human.” “The genetic differences between Homo Sapiens and our now-extinct closest relatives were not known until they were identified thanks to the work of Pääbo,” the Committee added.
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After the Nobel Prize for Medicine, the awards for Physics (Tuesday), Chemistry (Wednesday) and the most anticipated: Literature (Thursday) and Peace (Friday in Oslo) will be announced. The Nobel Prize for Economics, the most recent creation of the award, closes the Nobel season next Monday.
Discovery
Paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo discovered that a gene transfer had occurred between these extinct hominids and Homo Sapiens. The ancient flow of genes into modern humans has a physiological impact, for example on how our immune systems respond to infections.
The Swede's father, biochemist Sune Bergström, also won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1982.
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The prize includes an amount of 10 million crowns, approximately US$900 thousand dollars).
Last year, the prize was awarded to Americans Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius for their discoveries about the way the nervous system perceives temperature and touch.
Winners
See the list of the 9 previous winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, awarded this time by the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm:
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– 2021: David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian (USA) for their discoveries about how the nervous system perceives temperature and touch.
– 2020: Harvey Alter and Charles Rice (USA) and Michael Houghton (United Kingdom) for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a disease that kills 400 people each year. His research contributed to the development of effective blood tests and treatment.
– 2019: William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza (USA) and Peter Ratcliffe (United Kingdom) for their research into the adaptation of cells to variable oxygen supply, which allows them to fight anemia and cancer.
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– 2018: James P. Allison (USA) and Tasuku Honju (Japan) for their research into immunotherapy that is especially effective in treating aggressive cancer cases.
– 2017: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young (USA) for their discoveries about the internal biological clock that controls the sleep-wake cycles of humans.
– 2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi (Japan) for his research on autophagy, crucial for understanding how cells are renewed and the body's response to hunger and infections.
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– 2015: William Campbell (Ireland/USA), Satoshi Omura (Japan) and Tu Youyou (China) for developing treatments against parasitic infections and malaria.
– 2014: John O'Keefe (USA/UK) and May-Britt and Edvard Moser (Norway) for their research into the brain's “internal GPS”, which may enable advances in knowledge of Alzheimer's.
– 2013: James Rothman, Randy Schekman and Thomas Südhof (USA), for their work on intracellular transport, which helps to understand diseases such as diabetes more effectively.
(With AFP)
