National Institutes of Health, called it “a great day for genomics,” a relatively young field first named in 1987. Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the U.S. Scientists in the field lauded the Nobel Committee’s choice.ĭavid Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, said he was thrilled, fearing the field of ancient DNA might “fall between the cracks.”īy recognizing that DNA can be preserved for tens of thousands of years - and developing ways to extract it - Paabo and his team created a completely new way to answer questions about our past, said Reich, who is paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also supports The Associated Press’ Health and Science Department.ĭr. For example, Tibetans share a gene with Denisovans that helps them adapt to high altitude.

“By mixing with them after migrating out of Africa, Homo sapiens picked up sequences that improved their chances to survive in their new environments,” Wedell said. Denisovan genes have been found in up to 6% of modern humans in Asia and Southeast Asia, indicating interbreeding occurred there too. Wedell called it “a sensational discovery” that showed Neanderthals and Denisovans were sister groups that split from each other around 600,000 years ago. Paabo and his team managed to extract DNA from a tiny finger bone found in a cave in Siberia, leading to the recognition of a new species of ancient humans they called Denisovans. Neanderthals were never in Africa, so there’s no known direct contribution to people in sub-Saharan Africa. People outside Africa have 1-2% of Neanderthal genes. This transfer of genes between hominin species affects how the immune system of modern humans reacts to infections, such as the coronavirus. Former UNDP chief and Turkish minister Dervis dies at 74

Neanderthal man paabo