Nobel Prize goes to Swede Svante Paabo for Neanderthal work
Oct 3, 2022 17:30:23 GMT
Mercy for All likes this
Post by Odysseus on Oct 3, 2022 17:30:23 GMT
Very very interesting.
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Prof Paabo's interest was in the old, degraded and contaminated genetic material from our ancestors. Many thought it was an impossible challenge. But he was, for the first time, able to sequence DNA from a 40,000-year-old piece of bone.
Those results showed that Neanderthals - who mostly lived in Europe and Western Asia - were distinct from both modern day humans and chimpanzees.
His work focused on hominins - the group of modern humans that includes us, Homo sapiens, but also our extinct relatives.
"By revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human", the Nobel committee said.
Those results showed that Neanderthals - who mostly lived in Europe and Western Asia - were distinct from both modern day humans and chimpanzees.
His work focused on hominins - the group of modern humans that includes us, Homo sapiens, but also our extinct relatives.
"By revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human", the Nobel committee said.
...
I remember having an early interest in human ancestry after I read some book about it as a teen.
But it was a bit too remote so I wound up studying natural history instead.
It is still a fascinating subject: how did humanity evolve?
And what is going to come next?
