The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology was awarded on Monday to Sweden's Svante Pääbo, 67, for the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the foundation of paleogenomics.
The Nobel jury explained that, by revealing the differing genetics that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominids, Pääbo's findings have provided the basis for exploring what makes human unique beings.
Through his research, Pääbo was able to identify, among other things, the Neanderthal strain in human DNA, proving that the ancestors of today's humans interbred with Neanderthals and had children with them.
