Video: Svante Paabo's Colleagues Celebrate His Nobel Prize By Tossing Him Into Pond

Swedish Scientist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. At Germany's Max Planck Institute, Mr Paabo's colleagues came together to greet him and congratulate the Nobel laureate for his brilliant work. "We are totally ecstatic and delighted," the institute wrote on Twitter while sharing a video of Mr Paabo bowing to thank his colleague for their gesture. 

However, the celebrations did not end there as the members of the institute also completed an old-age tradition of tossing a colleague into the pond in order to celebrate their scientific success. Taking to Twitter, the official page of The Nobel Prize shared a clip which showed Mr Paabo's colleague tossing him into a pond.

"Our new medicine laureate Svante Paabo made a splash when his colleagues at @MPI_EVA_Leipzig threw him into a pond. Normally throwing a colleague into the pond happens when somebody receives a PhD, and they wanted to do it for Paabo's #NobelPrize as well," the caption of the post read.

Watch the video below: 

Our new medicine laureate Svante Pääbo made a splash when his colleagues at @MPI_EVA_Leipzig threw him into a pond. Normally throwing a colleague into the pond happens when somebody receives a PhD, and they wanted to do it for Pääbo's #NobelPrize as well.

Video: Benjamin Vernot pic.twitter.com/SaHAxfwRID

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2022

The clip showed Mr Paabo being tossed into a pond by three of his colleagues. Max Planck Institute also shared a series of images from the celebrations. "What better way to celebrate your NobelPrize than being grabbed by your colleagues and thrown into your Institute's pond?" the caption read. 

What better way to celebrate your #NobelPrize than being grabbed by your colleagues & thrown into your Institute's pond?😂At #MedicineNobelPrize Winner Svante Pääbo's @MPI_EVA_Leipzig, scientific success is traditionally celebrated w/ a quick *voluntary* bath!😉🌊@maxplanckpress pic.twitter.com/IMnMgPsexx

— Max Planck Society (@maxplanckpress) October 4, 2022

Meanwhile, coming back to Mr Paabo's achievement, the Nobel laureate spearheaded the development of new techniques that allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins - the Neanderthals and Denisovans. 

"Mr Paabo and his team also surprisingly found that gene flow had occurred from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens, demonstrating that they had children together during periods of co-existence," said Anna Wedell, Chair of the Nobel Committee.

Mr Paabo is the son of Sune Bergstrom, who won the Nobel prize in medicine in 1982. As per the Nobel Foundation, this is the 8th time that the son or daughter of a Nobel Laureate also won a Nobel Prize.