Same-sex sexual behavior is common in animals but puzzles evolutionary biologists since it doesn’t carry the same obvious benefits as heterosexual courtship behavior that leads to mating and production of offspring. A study from Uppsala University sheds new light on the pervasiveness of same-sex sexual behavior in the animal kingdom.
Brain tumours in dogs are strikingly similar to their human tumour counterparts. In a recent study in the journal PLOS Genetics, researchers at Uppsala University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have used genetic analyses in different dog breeds to identify genes that could have a role in the development of brain tumours in both dogs and human.
In a world first study researchers have found that coral bleaching and death can have dramatic repercussions for how small reef fish learn about and avoid predators. The new results are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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.
One may expect a creature that darts around its habitat to be capable of perceiving rapid changes as well. Yet birds are famed more for their good visual acuity. Joint research by Uppsala University, Stockholm University and SLU now shows that, in small passerines (perching birds) in the wild, vision is considerably faster than in any other vertebrates .
The fossil group called the Ediacaran biota have been troubling researchers for a long time. In a new study, published in Biological Reviews, researchers from Sweden and Spain suggest the Ediacarans reveal previously unexplored pathways taken by animal evolution. They also propose a new way of looking at the effect the Ediacarans might have had on the evolution of other animals.
Harmful organic molecules in the indoor air can cause adverse health effects – a problem known as the “sick building syndrome”. A promising new solution is being developed at Uppsala University – window glass with a nanostructured coating based on titanium dioxide which uses sunlight to remove organic pollutants from the indoor air by passing it between the inner panes of the window.
There was no word for terrorism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but outbreaks of terrorist violence were frequent. In his new book on terrorism in history and literature, Uppsala University Professor of English Literature, Robert Appelbaum, documents the many ways terrorist violence was used, responded to, and written about in early modern Britain and France.
How can you tell if your mathematical model is good enough? In a new study, researchers from Uppsala University implemented a Turing test in the form of an online game (with over 1700 players) to assess how good their models were at reproducing collective motion of real fish schools. The results are published in Biology Letters.
A team of Swedish scientists have used national registries encompassing more than one million Swedish children to study the association between early life contact with dogs and subsequent development of asthma. The new study found that children who grew up with dogs had about 15 percent lower risk of asthma than children without dogs.
In a world first study researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden and James Cook University in Australia and have found that prey fish captured by predators release chemical cues that acts as a ‘distress call’, dramatically boosting their chances for survival. The findings are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
By meticulously examining sediments in China’s Yellow River, a Swedish–Chinese research group are showing that the history of tectonic and climate evolution on Earth may need to be rewritten. Their findings are published today in the highly reputed journal Nature Communications.
Future computers will require a magnetic material which can be manipulated ultra-rapidly by breaking the strong magnetic coupling. A study has been published in Nature Communications today in which Swedish and German scientists demonstrate that even the strongest magnetic coupling may be broken within picoseconds (10 raised to -12 s). This will open up an exciting new area of research.
New species evolve whenever a lineage splits off into several. Because of this, the kinship between species is often described in terms of a ‘tree of life’, where every branch constitutes a species. Now, researchers at Uppsala University have found that evolution is more complex than this model would have it, and that the tree is actually more akin to a bush.
Clinical trials are an important part of cancer research. Future patients depend on the severely ill to test drugs to improve treatment. But in her dissertation from Uppsala University, Tove Godskesen shows that some of these patients have a limited understanding of the purpose of the studies they enroll in.
40 armed conflicts were active in 2014, the highest number of conflicts since 1999 and an increase of 18% when compared to the 34 conflicts active in 2013. New data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) shows an increase in both the number of active conflicts but also in the number of battle-related deaths in these conflicts.
Recombination, or crossing-over, occurs when sperm and egg cells are formed and segments of each chromosome pair are interchanged. This process plays an crucial role in the maintanance of genetic variation. Researchers at the Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, have studied recombination in honeybees. The extreme recombination rates found in this species seem to be crucial for their survival.
A key question in the climate debate is how the occurrence and distribution of species is affected by climate change. But without information about natural variation in species abundance it is hard to answer. In a major study, published today in the leading scientific journal Current Biology, researchers can now for the first time give us a detailed picture of natural variation.
The most recent volcanic eruption on the Canary Islands produced spectacularly enigmatic white “floating rocks” that originated from the layers of oceanic sedimentary rock underneath the island. An international team of researchers, led from Uppsala University, use microscopic fossils found in the rocks to shed new light on the long-standing puzzle about the origin of the Canary Islands.
In a new study, published in Science, researchers at Uppsala University demonstrate an association between smoking and loss of the Y chromosome in blood cells. The researchers have previously shown that loss of the Y chromosome is linked to cancer. Since only men have the Y chromosome, these results might explain why smoking is a greater risk factor for cancer among men.