All of us stand to benefit from large European health studies, but it is not always easy for researchers to collaborate across national borders. To help enable collaboration, the international EU-funded project BBMRI-LPC will spend the next four years working to increase researchers’ access to samples and data. Researchers at Uppsala University have a key role in the project.
An international research team has identified seven new gene loci linked to obesity. Researchers were also able to show that the genetic mechanisms that cause extreme obesity are similar to those that cause milder forms of overweight and obesity.
There is a connection between high levels of PCBs and the heart’s ability to pump. The study is the latest of several from the Uppsala University research group showing health issues caused by PCBs, even though their use has been banned for some time.
Do scientists have a responsibility for research that is used to harm others? In a doctoral thesis from Uppsala University, Frida Kuhlau discusses to what extent Life Science researchers have a responsibility to prevent their research from being used to develop biological weapons.
New research from Uppsala University shows that sleep-deprived people select greater portion sizes of energy-dense snacks and meals than they do after one night of normal sleep. Poor sleep habits can therefore affect people’s risk of becoming overweight in the long run. The findings are published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Do we trust biobank researchers? In a doctoral thesis from Uppsala University, medical doctor and bioethicist Linus Johnsson claims that we do: At least in Sweden. And since we do, researchers in turn have a moral responsibility towards us.
One of the greatest challenges of modern science is understanding the human brain. Uppsala University’s Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) is part of the European Commission flagship initiative to simulate the human brain and will look at the philosophical and ethical implications of this.
In a major international study, the pig genome is now mapped. Researchers from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) have contributed to the study by analysing genes that played a key role in the evolution of the domesticated pig and by mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERV), retroviruses whose genes have become part of the host organism’s genome.
Researchers at Uppsala University have, together with Brazilian collaborators, discovered a new group of nerve cells that regulate processes of learning and memory. These cells act as gatekeepers and carry a receptor for nicotine, which can explain our ability to remember and sort information.
It was long believed that proteins need to be well structured to function, but during the last decade it has become clear that disorder is often crucial for function. Now, a research team at Uppsala University has shed light on how such disordered proteins interact with each other.
The Khoe and San peoples in southern Africa play an important role for our understanding of the evolutionary history of humans. These peoples are directly descended from the first branching of the genealogical tree for today’s humans. This is shown in a study led by Uppsala University and being presented in the Web version of the journal Science today.
The congenital eye disease persistent foetal vasculature syndrome leads to bleeding, detached retina, and a cloudy lens. Now researchers at Uppsala University show in a model for the disease that it may be associated with an excessive expression of a growth factor during the foetal period.
Individuals with elevated levels of PCBs and DDT in their blood run a greater risk of having a stroke. This is shown in a study from Uppsala University that is being published today in the scientific journal Environmental International.
One of the most debated developments in human history is the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. This week’s edition of Science presents the genetic findings of a Swedish-Danish research team, which show that agriculture spread to Northern Europe via migration from Southern Europe.
On April 15, a century have passed since the Titanic foundered during its maiden voyage. Since then there has been a widespread belief that in a disaster, women and children will be saved first. Based on analyses of 18 of the most notable shipwrecks from the 19th century until today, researchers from Uppsala University conclude that this is a myth.
Knowledge about the development of the nervous system is of the greatest importance to understand the function of the brain and brain disorders. Researchers at Uppsala University have examined the key step when genes are read and found that genes that are active in the brain are transcribed with a special mechanism. The findings, reported in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.
An international research team led by Kerstin Lindblad-Toh at the Broad Institute, US and Uppsala University, Sweden has mapped and compared the genomes of 29 mammals. The findings, published in Nature, reveal millions of new regulatory elements in the human genome. The new knowledge is important for our understanding of how mutations in human genes give rise to diseases.