Svante Paabo receives the Nobel Prize for Evolutionary Research

This year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for his discoveries in human evolution.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee, announced the winner Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Paabo conducted research comparing the genome of modern humans and our closest extinct relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, showing that there was admixture between the species.

The Medicine Prize kicked off a week of Nobel Prize announcements. It continues on Tuesday with the physics prize, with chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the Economics Prize on October 10.

Last year’s medicine recipients were David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries about how the human body senses temperature and touch.

The prizes come with a cash reward of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be presented on December 10. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.