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Professor David Paterson, Head of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and President of The Physiological Society congratulates Professor Svante Pääbo ForMemRS, who has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

David in his office by the window.

Professor Pääbo has been awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.

Responding to the Nobel Prize announcement, Professor David Paterson, said:

“On behalf of The Physiological Society I am delighted to congratulate Svante Pääbo for being awarded the Nobel Prize. His pioneering research shines a light on the physiology that makes humans unique from their ancestors.

This is an important science discovery in evolutionary biology. Ascribing physiological function to highly conserved mitochondrial genes has been important in our understanding in high altitude acclimatisation as populations move and adapt to new environments, and how genetic variants affect us on a day-to-day basis in health and disease.”

Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology Denis Noble FRS added: "This Nobel Prize award has great significance for contributions of physiology to evolutionary biology since it clarifies the hominid evolutionary tree/network of life."  

More information (The Physiological Society)

More information (The Nobel Prize)