Ideas that change the world.


Human Evolution was the focus of the latest episode (Season 6, Ep. 112) in the Nobel Prize Museum’s podcast series, Ideas that change the world, with Mattias Jakobsson.

We all carry the entire history of humanity in our genes. When researchers examine the DNA of people living today and compare it with the genetic material of those who lived tens of thousands of years ago, a new picture of human evolution emerges – a picture characterised by variation, mixture and diversity.

Geneticist Mattias Jakobsson explains how the technology for which Svante Pääbo received the Nobel Prize is being used to understand how we humans became who we are.


  • Gut microbes that trace ancient human journeys

    Gut microbes that trace ancient human journeys

    The newest piece in Nature’s News & Views, co-authored by our PI, Carina Schlebusch and Maja Vukovikj from Human Evolution Program at Uppsala University discusses the study by Carter et al. exploring what our gut microbiomes can tell us about human population history. Humans have never travelled alone. When our ancestors spread out of Africa…

  • The unknown origins of humans on Swedish radio

    Mattias Jakobsson was featured on Swedish Radio’s morning program (Förmiddag i P1) today, 29 Sept 2026. His conversation with Nicke Nordmark, the program leader, is available at: https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/manniskans-okanda-ursprung (in Swedish). They talked about Homo Sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans and their coexistence; the unknown DNA in our genes; and the possibility that humans as we know…

  • Meet Jaison Jeevan Sequeira, our current Human Past SCAS Junior Fellow

    We are pleased to welcome Jaison Jeevan Sequeira, Guest Lecturer & Researcher, Department of Applied Zoology, Mangalore University, as our new fellow. Jaison is a population geneticist interested in the demographic history of South Asia. His doctoral thesis focused on the ancestral history and genomic diversity of linguistic populations along the southwest coast of India.…