Twenty years ago, vegetarian options in Swedish supermarkets were few and far between. Today there is a broad selection of products available including vegetarian sausages and fillets, and veggie balls, the vegetarian version of meatballs. New research shows how a range of actors have managed to drive this change, despite the fact that interest from politicians has been lukewarm at best.
High-starch algae are important in biofuel production, as a feed supplement in agriculture and as an efficient way to bind carbon dioxide. Researchers have now found a new method to control starch storage in algae - a finding with potential applications in areas such reducing greenhouse gases.
To answer this question, Linnaeus collected 643 different plant species that were then fed to horses, cows, pigs, sheep and goats. The results were carefully compiled but not analysed until now, 275 years later, when they are also published by the Linnean Society in London.
Animals bred in the fur animal industry can both carry and spread viruses with the potential to infect humans. In a new study conducted by researchers at Uppsala University and others, researchers have identified 36 previously unknown viruses. The study has been published in the journal Nature.
In a new study, researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden, together with colleagues from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, have investigated the impact that a barren living environment for sows leaves on the next generation. The pigs in the study were bred in Brazil and kept according to breeding standards in that country. The sows’ uncomfortable and unstimulating environment brought with i
Food lies at the heart of both health and sustainable development. This year’s Uppsala Health Summit takes on the challenges associated with our food systems and how to make them healthier, more inclusive, equitable and sustainable.
An international team of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Irish scientists has used whole genome sequencing to characterise 53 herring populations from the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. They have developed genetic markers that make it possible to better monitor herring populations and avoid overfishing. The study is published in the journal eLife.
How can stress in animals be measured? Scientists from Uppsala University and elsewhere have now found that what are known as epigenetic biomarkers could be used to detect long-term exposure to stress in commercially raised chickens. This may, in time, lead to improved conditions in animal rearing. The study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Genetics.
Warding off the threats of future epidemics will be difficult without better cooperation and contingency plans that allow us to act before a crisis hits. This is one message in a new report summarising the discussions of the Uppsala Health Summit on the theme of Tackling Infectious Disease Threats: Prevent, Detect and Respond with a One Health Approach, which took place in October last year.
At the Uppsala Health Summit Tackling Infectious Disease Threats, due to start next week, experts and decision makers from ministries, academia, companies and voluntary organisations are meeting to discuss how jointly to reduce the risk of severe outbreaks.
Infectious diseases are among the biggest threats to health in the world. Recurrent alarms about the risk of disease spread, epidemics and pandemics make the subject highly topical and evoke anxiety in many of us. In a report published today, Uppsala Health Summit lays the basis for discussion at the summit on 10–11 October on how to manage the threats.
How species genetically adapt to their environment is a central question related to the evolution of biodiversity. In a new study scientists at Uppsala University and their colleagues report that whole genome sequencing of Atlantic and Baltic herring revealed hundreds of loci underlying adaptation to the brackish Baltic Sea or timing of reproduction. The study is published today in eLife.
A new species of bird has been described in north-eastern India and adjacent parts of China by a team of scientists from Sweden, China, the US, India and Russia, headed by Professor Per Alström, Uppsala University, and Swedish University of Agricultural Science, SLU. The bird has been named the Himalayan Forest Thrush, Zoothera salimalii.
