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Editorial
. 2023 Jan;237(1):e13902.
doi: 10.1111/apha.13902. Epub 2022 Nov 23.

Svante Pääbo, reader of the Neanderthal genome

Karolina Wielgus  1 , Mikołaj Danielewski  1 , Jarosław Walkowiak  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Svante Pääbo, reader of the Neanderthal genome

Karolina Wielgus et al. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2023 Jan.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Path of Svante Pääbo's research career and the development of paleogenetics: from extracting short fragments of mtDNA from an Egyptian mummy to sequencing whole genomes of extinct hominids and discerning the evolutionary history of their and our species, for which he was awarded the Noble Prize. His first work in paleogenetics on sequences from Egyptian mummy was the world's second successful one and posed proof that nuclear DNA can survive from ancient times in a state viable for further analyses. Pääbo's further works ranged from research on sequences from other ancient samples, for example, 7000‐year‐old brain of an ancient Native American excavated from a bog in Florida to ones focusing on exploring and appraising methodologies currently available in molecular biology, for example, a publication comparing results obtained through molecular cloning and PCR. The first publication regarding genetic material from ancient hominids appeared in 1998 when Pääbo's team reported recovering mitochondrial DNA from Neanderthal. The full mitochondrial genome was sequenced in 2008, while in 2010 appeared the first draft of the Neanderthal genome, followed by high coverage Neanderthal genome in 2014. The obtained data have finally provided proof for the admixture of Neanderthal DNA to the modern human genome, which happened fairly recently (~70 000 years ago) and long after the two populations diverged (~300 000 years ago). In 2010, a new subspecies of ancient hominids was discovered—Denisovans. Results points toward them being a sister group to Neanderthals and them both sharing a latest common ancestor after the divergence from ancestors of modern humans (for greater detail, consult the remainder of the paper or the cited publications). The Figure was prepared on the bases of materials taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmnh/3033749380/; author of the original photo—hairymuseummatt; author of derivative artwork—DrMikeBaxter. Artwork licensed under Creative Commons Attribution‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐sa/2.0/deed.en. https://www.flickr.com/photos/126288307@N05/21860559246. Author—C Watts. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. Picture of Svante Pääbo—PAP/EPA/José Luis Cereijido.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pääbo S. Molecular cloning of ancient Egyptian mummy DNA. Nature. 1985;314(6012):644‐645. doi:10.1038/314644a0 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Krings M, Stone A, Schmitz RW, Krainitzki H, Stoneking M, Pääbo S. Neandertal DNA sequences and the origin of modern humans. Cell. 1997;90(1):19‐30. doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80310-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Green RE, Malaspinas AS, Krause J, et al. A complete Neandertal mitochondrial genome sequence determined by high‐throughput sequencing. Cell. 2008. Aug 8;134(3):416‐426. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.021 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Green RE, Krause J, Briggs AW, et al. A draft sequence of the Neandertal genome. Science. 2010;328(5979):710‐722. doi:10.1126/science.1188021 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reich D, Green RE, Kircher M, et al. Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova cave in Siberia. Nature. 2010;468(7327):1053‐1060. doi:10.1038/nature09710 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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