Reacción a "Reactions: Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for Svante Pääbo, father of palaeogenetics"

Svante Pääbo's work, in addition to having been a methodological revolution, has provided unknown data on our interaction with other human species in the past, promoting a critical and necessary reflection on how we humans relate to each other today. It is research literally at the frontier of knowledge, as it has allowed us to apply knowledge, such as genetics, and concepts, such as hybridisation, which were not common in the field of palaeontology. In our field, his contribution has meant a paradigm shift, promoting molecular research into the past, a line that continues to advance and gain prominence. The analysis of ancient DNA, for which he laid the foundations, has now given way to the emerging field of palaeoproteomics, or the study of ancient proteins, which will promote another before and after, similar to that of palaeogenetics. 

I am delighted that the Nobel Prize has been awarded in a field of research, the study of the past, in which our country is a world leader; and I hope that this will translate into even greater attention and support for the research being done in this field in our country. This emphasises the importance of studying our origins and overturns the distinction between applied sciences and basic sciences, and the fact that the latter have less weight in the advancement of knowledge.