In October 2023, OIST hosted a special public lecture, "Denisovans and Neanderthals - How They Live On In Us" by Prof. Svante Pääbo, 2022 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, in the Tedako Public Hall, Urasoe .

The direct ancestors of all present-day humans originated in Africa and spread out from there and the Near East 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. When they did so, they encountered the Neanderthals in western Eurasia and the Denisovans in eastern Eurasia, earlier forms of humans who became extinct about 40,000 years ago. Dr. Svante Pääbo’s group has identified genome sequences from Neanderthals and Denisovans. Dr. Pääbo discusses how genetic variants inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans influence our physiology and propensity for disease today. He also discusses what the genomes of our extinct evolutionary relatives tell us about the origin and history of modern humans.