This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Swedish scientist Svante Pabo for his discoveries on human evolution.
Nobel committee secretary Thomas Perlman announced the winner on Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Pabo has led research comparing the genomes of modern humans and our closest extinct relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, showing that there was admixture between the species.
The drug prize began a week after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. It continues with the Physics Prize on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday and Literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the Economics Prize will be announced on October 10.
Last year’s drug recipients were David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, for their discoveries of how the human body perceives temperature and touch.
The prizes carry a cash prize of 10 million Swedish kronor (approximately $900,000) and will be awarded on 10 December. The money comes from a will left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.