A Swedish paleontologist who proved that Neanderthals are “still alive” wins the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine as the scientists behind the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines have been shunned again.
“A Swedish 'DNA hunter' who effectively discovered that Neanderthals are still alive was today awarded a Nobel Prize.
Professor Svante Pääbo's 'seemingly impossible' task saw him prove interbreeding occurred between Homo Sapiens and our closest ancient relatives.
The 67-year-old, who received the congratulatory call while enjoying a cup of coffee at home this morning, also uncovered the 'sensational' existence of a once-unknown human species — the Denisovans.
Professor Pääbo's feats were only made possible by painstakingly analyzing the DNA of bones that are thousands of years old.
He pipped the scientists behind the mRNA Covid vaccines which have saved millions of lives during the pandemic, who were thought to be the frontrunners after missing out on the prestigious award last year.
Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee, announced this year's winner at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Professor Pääbo — son of the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sune Bergström — has drastically transformed the study of human origins during his 40 years of academic work.
His pioneering approach, which took years of fine-tuning, allows for the examination of DNA sequences from ancient remains.
One of his key achievements includes sequencing an entire Neanderthal genome to reveal the link between extinct people and modern humans.
While Neanderthal bones were first found in the mid-19th century, only by unlocking their DNA — often referred to as the code of life — have scientists been able to fully understand the links between species.
This included the rough period of time when modern humans, or Homo sapiens, and Neanderthals diverged as a species, determined to be around 800,000 years ago.
His team's work to map the complete genetic code of Neanderthals, who mysteriously died out tens of thousands years ago, also revealed that their genes have been passed down to us today.
In fact, up to four percent of the DNA of people living in some parts of the world is thought to come from the short, stocky cavemen.
'This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections', the Nobel jury said.
Professor Pääbo, based at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, also brought to light the existence of a previously unknown human species called the Denisovans, from a 40,000-year-old fragment of a finger bone found in a frozen cave in Siberia.
Created in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel, the prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901, though the economics prize is a later addition.
The Covid pandemic has placed medical research center stage with many expecting that the development of the vaccines that have allowed the world to regain some sense of normality may eventually be rewarded.
Still, it typically takes many years for any given research to be honored, with the committees charged with picking the winners looking to determine its full value with some certainty amongst what is always a packed field of contenders.
Doctor Perlmann said: 'We only talk about people who are getting the Nobel Prize and not those who are not receiving or not received them yet’.
The Nobel Award committee officially gave Professor Pääbo the prize for 'discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution'.
His prize, arguably among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is worth 10m Swedish crowns ($900,357)”. -Stephen Matthews, Daily Mail
Svante Pääbo epitomizes the significance of DNA. Being the son of another Nobel Laureate in Physiology, Sune “Single Umlaut” Bergström, Pääbo becomes the eighth parent-child Nobelist ever.
The Nobel Committee may have been foolish enough to give the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama who promptly launched a series of wars, but they’re sober enough to recognize that they may one day be seen as giving awards to the architects of what amounts to a 21st-century Holocaust if they were to present the prize for physiology or medicine to the individuals behind the mRNA vaccines.
Between the excess deaths and declining fertility rates, the evidence against the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines is on the verge of becoming undeniable by the mainstream.