An improved method for reading and interpreting genomes from organisms that are difficult to investigate has been developed at Uppsala University. A team of researchers, led by Dr Anna Rosling, has applied this method to decipher the genetic information of fungi present in the environment, which can be relevant, for example, for plant growth.
Antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis is a common and serious problem globally. In a new article, researchers from Uppsala University describe how tuberculosis bacteria that carries a mutation that in theory should kill them manages to stay alive. The researchers discovered that the same trick that kept the bacteria alive also made them resistant to a very important type of antibiotic.
The balance between the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine may affect whether a person develops social anxiety disorder. Previous research has mainly focused on either the serotonin or the dopamine system individually. Now researchers at Uppsala University have demonstrated the existence of a previously unknown link between the two. The results are published in Molecular Psychiatry.
A preliminary study by researchers at Uppsala University has found that when young, healthy men were deprived of just one night of sleep, they had higher levels of tau – a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease – in their blood than when they had a full, uninterrupted night of rest. The study is published in the medical journal Neurology.
Using a computer algorithm, scientists at Uppsala University have identified a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma. This form of cancer in children, which occurs in specialised nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system, may be life-threatening.
Researchers at Uppsala University have made a breakthrough in the understanding of energy storage in sodium ion batteries by using ultra-high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. These findings will aid the development of new materials for future battery generations with significantly higher and more stable voltages than previously, shows an article published in the research journal Nature.
An international team led by Alexander Suh at Uppsala University has sequenced a chromosome in zebra finches called the germline-restricted chromosome (GRC). The researchers found that the GRC is tens of millions of years old and plays a key role in songbird biology, having collected genes used for embryonic development.
Medication prescribed for a certain type of epilepsy may offer a new method for treating malignant infantile brain tumours. A specific mTOR inhibitor has the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier to both reach and attack the tumour at source. This has been demonstrated by researchers from Uppsala University, in collaboration with US and UK colleagues, and is published in Cell Stem Cell.
A new study from Uppsala University shows that whole-genome sequencing increases the precision of genetic studies, which in turn can improve our understanding of how to use biomarkers to discover disease. The results are published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University compared the carbon footprint of two kinds of inhaler used for treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: dry powder inhalers and sprays containing propellants. The results show that treatment with spray inhalers has a carbon footprint 20 times greater than that of using dry powder inhalers.
Uppsala researchers have developed a new method for investigating dynamic processes in large genetic libraries. By using this method to study cell cycle regulation, they help paint a clearer picture of the elusive control mechanism. The study is published in the journal Nature Methods.
In species with sexual reproduction, no two individuals are alike and scientists have long struggled to understand why there is so much genetic variation. In a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, a team of researchers from the University of Uppsala in Sweden now show that a genetic tug-of-war between the sexes acts to maintain variation.
A cache of 118 million-year-old fossilized dinosaur and bird feathers has been recovered from an ancient lake deposit that once lay beyond the southern polar circle.
What is consciousness? What does it mean to be ‘aware’, and how is our consciousness connected to the physical brain? A recent thesis from Uppsala University explores the philosophical aspects of the issue, and proposes a solution: the ‘intrinsic consciousness’ theory.
“We need to combine empirical and conceptual work to assess the significant issues raised by these developments in brain resear
How variable are gene transcripts and proteins, the molecules of life, across the tissues and organs of the human body? Furthermore, how variable are they within the same tissue type from different people? These questions are the focus of a new study led by researchers from Uppsala University, which is published in NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics.
Superbly preserved fossils from Russia, excavated with support of a grant from the National Geographic Society and described today by an international team in the leading scientific journal Nature, cast new and surprising light on one of the earliest tetrapods – the group of animals that made the evolutionary transition from water to land.
In the ancient Bergslagen ore province of central Sweden lies a zone of ‘Bastnäs-type’ rare earth element deposits, and in a new study, scientists from Uppsala University and the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) show how these deposits originally formed.
In an interdisciplinary study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, an international research team has combined archaeological, genetic and stable isotope data to understand the demographic processes associated with the iconic Battle Axe Culture and its introduction in Scandinavia.
Before the French Revolution, family trees were reserved for the feudal upper classes, who used them to consolidate their social status. While feudalism broke down and family trees lost their old roles, the trees gained new functions as scientific models. This is shown by a new thesis in the history of science and ideas.
An international experimental research team led from HPSTAR, China and Uppsala University, Sweden, have used experimental research as well as theory to understand high-pressure structural phase transitions in hydrogen which could give rise to metallisation and could even result in superconductivity. The findings were published this week in the online edition of Nature.