This year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for his discoveries on human evolution.

Mr Paabo has spearheaded research comparing the genome of modern humans and our closest extinct relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, showing that there was mixing between the species.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee, announced the winner on Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

The medicine prize kicks off a week of Nobel Prize announcements.

Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine Anna Wedell, left, presents the discovery made by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)

placeholder image — Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine Anna Wedell, left, presents the discovery made by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)

Scottish scientist David MacMillan wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

It continues on Tuesday with the physics prize, with chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award will follow on October 10.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (around £800,000) and will be handed out on December 10.

The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.