Acceptance Speech – Bern, 17.11.2023 (Video)

Denmark

Eske Willerslev

2023 Balzan Prize for Evolution of Humankind: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution

For his studies on human DNA with an evolutionary perspective focusing on population mobility and migrations and thus to a large extent contributing to transform our understanding of human history. For leading the way in using ancient DNA (from teeth) to identify human pathogens and for retrieving DNA directly from environmental samples, opening a new scientific field.