Nobel Prize in medicine 2022.

Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2022 for his discoveries on human evolution.

His discoveries provided critical insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct cousins.
He has spearheaded the development of new techniques that allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins — the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

About the Discoveries:
- Svante Paabo proved modern humans share DNA with extinct relatives Neanderthals and Denisovans.
- Paabo and his team also found gene flow from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens.
Neanderthals:
- Neanderthals are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago.
- The Neanderthal bones were first discovered in the mid19th century.
Denisovans:
- The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic.
- Denisovan genes have been found in up to 6% of modern humans in Asia and Southeast Asia.
Significance of Discoveries:
- The scientists sequenced the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans, and made the sensational discovery of a previously unknown hominin, Denisova.
Svante Paabo:
- Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1955, Svante Paabo is currently the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
- He is the son of Sune Bergstrom, who won the Nobel prize in medicine in 1982.

The will of the Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel established the five Nobel prizes in 1895.
The Nobel Prizes are a set of recognition given to fields of Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine by The Nobel Foundation.
The Nobel Foundation is a private institution established in 1900 and has ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the intentions of Alfred Nobel’s will.
The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901.

About:
- DNA is a self-replicating genetic material in every living organism.
- It is a carrier of all genetic information.
- It carries instructions for organisms to grow, survive, develop and reproduce. It’s a long molecule that contains a genetic “code”.
- This genetic code is a starting point of human development.
Components of DNA:
- DNA is made up of molecules known as nucleotides. The three components of a DNA molecule are the carbon-sugar group, phosphate group, and nitrogen base.
- The nitrogen bases are further divided into four-
  - Adenine
  - Cytosine
  - Guanosine
  - Thymine
Structure of DNA:
- Human DNA is unique and is made up of 3 billion base pairs.
- However, 99% of them are the same in all humans.
- The sequence of these bases determines what information needs to be coded that is necessary for the organism’s growth and development.
Functions of DNA:
- Conserving Genetic Information
- Cellular Metabolism
- DNA Replication
- Development of Organisms
Gene Therapy:
- Gene is a DNA segment with information coded in it in the form of a nucleotide sequence.
- Gene Therapy is a technique in which an individual’s gene is modified to cure any disease.

Pic Courtesy: The Hindu and Hindustan Times.

Content Source: The Hindu