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Topics: Natural science

  • New research detects brain cell that improves learning

    The workings of memory and learning have yet to be clarified, especially at the neural circuitry level. But researchers at Uppsala University have now, jointly with Brazilian collaborators, discovered a specific brain neuron with a central role in learning. This study, published in Neuron, may have a bearing on the potential for counteracting memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Striking differences in brain morphology between wild and domestic rabbits

    The most characteristic feature of domestic animals is their tame behaviour. A team of scientists has now used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study how domestication has affected brain morphology in domestic rabbits. The results show that domestication has had a profound effect on brain morphology in particular regions of the brain involved in fear processing.

  • Endocrine-disrupting pesticides impair frog reproduction

    In a new study, researchers from Sweden and Britain have investigated how the endocrine-disrupting substance linuron affects reproduction in the West African clawed frog. The scientists found that linuron, which is used as a pesticicide, impaired the males’ fertility, and that tadpoles developed ovaries instead of testicles to a greater extent, which caused a female‐biased sex ratio.

  • Virus genes from city pond rescue bacteria

    ​A key question in evolutionary biology is how new functions arise. New research at Uppsala University shows that bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) can contribute to new functions by revealing hidden potential in their bacterial hosts.

  • Researchers redefine the origin of the cellular powerhouse

    In a new study published by Nature, an international team of researchers led by Uppsala University in Sweden proposes a new evolutionary origin for mitochondria – also known as the ‘powerhouses of the cell’. Mitochondria are energy-converting organelles that have played key roles in the emergence of complex cellular life on Earth.

  • Antibiotic resistance can be caused by small amounts of antibiotics

    Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a global and growing problem in health care. To be able to prevent further development of resistance developing, it is important to understand where and how antibiotic resistance in bacteria arises. New research from Uppsala University shows that low concentrations of antibiotics, too, can cause high antibiotic resistance to develop in bacteria.

  • Most primitive kangaroo ancestor rediscovered after 30 years in obscurity

    A handful of tiny teeth have led scientists to identify the most distant ancestor of today’s kangaroos. The fossils were found in the desert heart of Australia, and then hidden away, and almost forgotten in a museum collection for over three decades. The findings are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

  • Study reveals how ‘microbial axolotl’ repairs itself

    In a new study, published in Current Biology this week, a research team from Uppsala University reports new insights into the regenerative capabilities of Stentor, a single celled model organism for regeneration biology. The study used novel gene expression methods that allowed the researchers to identify over one thousand genes involved in the regeneration process of individual stentor cells.

  • New technology for accelerated wound healing discovered

    Researchers at Uppsala University and SLU have found a new way of accelerating wound healing. The technology and the mode of action method published in PNAS involves using lactic acid bacteria as vectors to produce and deliver a human chemokine on site in the wounds.

  • New method to stop cells dividing could help fight cancer

    Researchers at Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Oxford, have used a new strategy to shut down specific enzymes to stop cells from dividing. The method, published in Cell Chemical Biology, can be used as a strategy to fight cancer.

  • Genomic data suggest two main migrations into Scandinavia after the last ice age

    In a new study published in PLOS Biology, an international research team suggests Scandinavia was populated by two main migrations after the last glacial maximum: an initial migration of groups from the south (modern day Denmark and Germany) and an additional migration from the north-east, following the ice-free Atlantic coast.

  • Mechanism identified behind enzyme involved in liver and other human cancers

    To understand what has gone wrong when cancer occurs and to create new possibilities for treatment, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms behind what is happening at the cellular level. New research, which is now published in the journal Molecular Cell, explains how the motor of an enzyme in DNA damage repair is switched on and off and how these processes might go awry in cancer.

  • The origin of a new species of Darwin’s finches

    Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos archipelago provide an iconic model for the evolution of biodiversity on earth due to natural selection. A team of scientists from Princeton University and Uppsala University now reports that they have observed the origin of a new species. A new lineage was formed by the hybridization of two different species of Darwin’s finches.

  • Genome sequencing reveals extensive inbreeding in Scandinavian wolves

    Researchers from Uppsala University and others have for the first time determined the full genetic consequences of intense inbreeding in a threatened species. The large-scale genomic study of the Scandinavian wolf population is reported in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

  • Modern humans emerged more than 300,000 years ago new study suggests

    ​A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from KwaZulu-Natal revealed that southern Africa has an important role to play in writing the history of humankind. A research team from Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, South Africa, presents their results in the September 28th early online issue of Science.

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