Quick Info
| Profession | Geneticist |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Date of Birth | 20/04/1955 |
| Age | 71 years |
| Birthplace | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Zodiac Sign | Taurus |
Latest News about Svante Pääbo
05/08/2026
Pääbo's NOMIS-supported research group published a study in Current Biology on the Neanderthal growth hormone receptor. The work reported that this receptor signalling was increased in Neanderthals and linked it to muscle mass in people today.
10/06/2026
Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo and Uppsala University Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt inaugurated the Pääbo Circuit, an eight-kilometre route linking parts of the Uppsala University campus. The circuit is based on the route Pääbo cycled as a student and researcher in Uppsala.
20/03/2026
Svante Pääbo delivered the 2026 NCKU Phoenix Lecture at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. He spoke on the origins of modern humans, focusing on Neandertals, Denisovans, and the genetic legacy of humanity. The lecture highlighted his ancient-DNA research and included an academic exchange with attendees.
Do you like Svante Pääbo?
You can vote only once.
81% like · 19% dislike
Bio/Wiki
| Famous role | Winning the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
|---|---|
| Current positions | Director, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig; Professor of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, University of Leipzig; Adjunct Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology |
Physical Stats & More
| Height | 187 cm |
|---|---|
| Eye Color | Ash Blonde |
| Hair Color | Hazel Green |
Educational Qualification(s)
| Education | PhD In Molecular Biology |
|---|
Personal Life
| School | Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter School |
|---|---|
| College/University | University of Uppsala |
Relationships & More
| Marital Status | Married |
|---|---|
| Marriage Date | 2008 |
Family
| Wife | Linda Vigilant (American geneticist) |
|---|---|
| Children | 1 |
| Parents |
|
| Siblings | Rurik Reenstierna (half-brother) |
Career
| Awards, Honours, Achievements |
|
|---|
Some Lesser Known Facts
| 1. Svante Pääbo worked as a teacher and part-time researcher at the University of California in 1979. | |
| 2. In 1980, he returned to Sweden to pursue a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Uppsala after leaving the University of California. | |
| 3. In 1986, Svante Pääbo authored research papers aiming to find a genetic link between Homo Sapiens and ancient human species. | |
| 4. Svante and his team successfully extracted DNA from a 10,000-year-old Neanderthal body in 1997. | |
| 5. In 2014, Svante published a book called "Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes." | |
| 6. On 3 October 2022, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden awarded Svante Pääbo the Nobel Prize for his work on extinct hominin genomes and human evolution. | |
| 7. In 1985, Pääbo extracted nuclear DNA from a 2400-year-old Egyptian mummy. | |
| 8. In 1997, Svante Pääbo and his team successfully extracted and sequenced mitochondrial DNA from a Neanderthal specimen found in the Feldhofer grotto in the Neander valley. | |
| 9. In 2006, he initiated the Neandertal Genome Project at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. | |
| 10. In 2010, his team published a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome in the journal Science, concluding interbreeding between Neanderthals and Eurasian humans. | |
| 11. Pääbo's team discovered the Denisovans, a previously unknown extinct human group, from a genome sequence of a bone found in Denisova Cave in Southern Siberia. | |
| 12. In 2013, the researchers completed the project with the publication of a high-quality version of the genome of a 50,000-year-old Neanderthal. |
