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Pebo was born in 1955 in Sweden Capital Stockholm . He obtained his doctorate degree from Uppsala University in Sweden in 1986, and then engaged in postdoctoral research at the University of Zurich, Switzerland and the University of California, Berkeley in the United States. In 1990, he served as a professor at the University of Munich, Germany. In 1999, he founded the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and has been working until now. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Okinawa University of Science and Technology, Japan.
Sweden's Caroline Medical College announced on the 3rd that it will award the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Swedish scientist Svanter Pebo in recognition of his contributions to the research of the extinct ancient human genome and human evolution . In a press release issued by the
awards committee that day, humans have always been interested in their own origins. "What does it have to do with our ancestors? What makes Homo sapiens different from other ancient humans?" Pebo sequenced the genome of an extinct modern human close relative, Neanderthal , and also discovered a previously unknown ancient human Denisovan . He discovered that after the Denisovans moved out of Africa about 70,000 years ago, they transferred their genes to the direct ancestor of modern humans, Homo sapiens. For modern humans, this ancient gene flow has physiological relevance, such as affecting the response of our immune system to infection. The
awards committee said that Pebo's pioneering research gave birth to a new scientific discipline - paleogenomics. "By revealing the genetic differences between today's humans and extinct ancient humans, his discovery laid the foundation for exploring what makes us unique humans." Following the initial discovery, Pebo's research team has completed the analysis of several additional genome sequences from extinct humans. This discovery forms a unique resource that can be widely used by the scientific community in order to better understand human evolution and migration. Thomas Perman, secretary of the
Awards Committee, said at a press conference that day that he had contacted the winners by phone, and Perbo expressed his surprise and joy after hearing the news. Perman said it sounded like Perbo was very excited.
Pebo will receive a bonus of 10 million Swedish Kroner (approximately $900,000).
Interpretation
What is the difference between modern humans and extinct ancient humans
Evidence shows that the direct ancestor of modern humans, Homo sapiens, first appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago, while the close relatives of modern humans, Neanderthals, began to live in Europe and West Asia about 400,000 years ago, and became extinct about 300,000 years ago. The Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Middle East about 70,000 years ago, and then migrated around the world. What relationship did the two groups have occurred during the tens of thousands of years since Homo sapiens and Neanderthals lived together on Eurasian ? To answer this question, Neanderthal genomes obtained from specimens are sequenced.
Pebo has been interested in using modern genetics methods to study Neanderthal DNA since his early career, and his work in this field has lasted for decades. After being hired as a professor at the University of Munich, Germany in 1990, Pebo decided to start by analyzing Neanderthal mitochondria. Mitochondria contain only a small portion of the genetic information of the cells, but there are a large number of copies, which increases the chances of sequencing success. Pebo improved the method and successfully sequenced an mitochondrial DNA region of a 40,000-year-old bone. This is the first time that the genetic sequence of an extinct ancient human being has kinship with modern humans . Comparison of genes with Homo sapiens and chimpanzees shows that Neanderthals are completely different species from genetics .
Since then, Pebo began to challenge Neanderthal nuclear genome sequencing. After serving as head of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, Perbo and his team have continuously improved methods for isolating and analyzing DNA from bone remains of ancient humans, and have also used emerging technologies to improve the efficiency of DNA sequencing .
Pebo and his team eventually completed what seemed impossible task, and they released the first Neanderthal genome sequence in 2010. Comparative analysis shows that modern human DNA from Europe or Asia is more similar to Neanderthals than modern people from Africa. This means that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens have crossed over tens of thousands of years of coexistence, with about 1% to 4% of the modern human genome of European or Asian descent from Neanderthals.
In 2008, scientists found a fragment of phalanx from 40,000 years ago in the Denisova Cave in Siberia, Siberia, which contained extremely well-preserved DNA information. Pebo led the team to sequence the remains of the phalanx and found that it came from ancient humans completely different from Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, and named it the Denisovans. Analysis shows that Denisovans and Homo sapiens also had gene exchanges. This exchange relationship occurred for the first time in Melanesia and some areas in Southeast Asia, where modern people carry about 6% of the Denisovan genes.
Pebo's research has enabled people to have a deeper understanding of the history of human evolution and migration. When Homo sapiens walked out of Africa, at least two now-extinct ancient human populations had lived on the Eurasian continent. Neanderthals lived in the western Eurasia and Denisovans lived in the eastern. During the migration of Homo sapiens to Africa, they met and crossed with Neanderthals and Denisovans.
Pebo's pioneering work has enabled people to understand the genetic differences between Homo sapiens and their extinct relatives. A large number of follow-up studies ongoing focus on analyzing the functional effects of these differences, with the ultimate goal of explaining what makes us unique human beings.
Source: Beijing Evening News
Process Editor: U022
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