A Swedish scientist's discoveries shedding light on the origins of humans have been recognized with a major honor. Svante Paabo won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Paabo achieved the sequencing and assembly of the Neanderthal genome using a 40,000-year-old piece of bone.

Paabo also discovered a now-extinct hominin called Denisova. He found gene transfer had occurred from them to Homo sapiens following their migration out of Africa. That happened around 70,000 years ago.

This ancient flow of genes is still relevant today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections.

Paabo's research gave rise to an entirely new scientific discipline called paleogenomics. His discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human, by revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins.

Paabo founded the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. He is also an adjunct professor at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan.

Paabo's father won the same award in 1982.