News Health & Medicine

Genetics of human evolution wins 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Geneticist Svante Pääbo figured out how to extract DNA from Neandertals’ and Denisovans’ bones

A headshot of Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo sitting next to and resting his hand on a skeleton

Svante Pääbo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his pioneering work in deciphering the genetics of our hominid relatives, Neandertals and Denisovans.

© Karsten Möbius

By Tina Hesman Saey and Aimee Cunningham

Updated

Establishing a new field of science to answer the question of what makes humans unique from our extinct relatives has earned Svante Pääbo the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.