PAST: ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL SCIENCES

Prof. Svante Pääbo is the Director of the Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.

Prof. Pääbo is the world’s leading pioneer in sequencing ancient DNA and is the first to extract DNA from Neanderthal fossil bones. He laid the foundations of the field of genomic archaeology.

Pääbo opened a direct window into the genetic past by pioneering the study of ancient DNA. His work has laid the foundation for a novel, rapidly expanding field of research. His sequencing of the genomes of Neanderthals and Denisovans has provided unprecedented insights into human genetic variation and evolution.

He has received numerous distinguished awards including the Keio Medical Science Prize (2016); the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2015); the Gruber Genetics Prize (2013); H.M. The King’s Medal (2012); the Kistler Prize (2009) and the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2005).

Prof. Pääbo is a member of several learned societies such as the National Academy of Sciences, USA; the Royal London Society; the Académie des Sciences, Institut de France; the Royal Academy of Sciences, Sweden. He holds honorary doctorates from several universities.