Uppsala University has joined the Leap Health Breakthrough Network, a global group of 21 leading academic and research institutions committed to solving the world’s most serious health challenges — such as cancer and infectious diseases — at record speed. Wellcome Leap is a US-based non-profit organisation founded by the Wellcome Trust to accelerate innovations that benefit global health.
In a new article a research group at Uppsala University show, using computer simulations, that ions do not always behave as expected. In their research on molten salts, they were able to see that, in some cases, the ions in the salt mixture they were studying affect one another so much that they may even move in the “wrong” direction – that is, towards an electrode with the same charge.
An adverse upbringing often impairs people’s circumstances and health in their adult years, especially for couples who have both had similar experiences. This is shown by a new study, carried out by Uppsala University researchers, in which 818 mothers and their partners filled in a questionnaire one year after having a child together. The study is now published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Countries where massive natural hazard events occur frequently are not more likely than others to make changes to reduce risks from future disasters. This is shown in an interdisciplinary Uppsala University study now published in Nature Communications.
European eels spend most of their adult life in a range of fresh- and brackish waters, across Europe and Northern Africa. Using whole-genome analysis, a new study finds that all European eels belong to a single panmictic population, an extraordinary finding for a species living under such variable environmental conditions. The study is published in PNAS.
In breast cancer, tumours of different types have divergent effects on the functioning of the lymph nodes. In patients with invasive breast cancer, the blood vessels and supporting tissue of the lymph nodes change, but this does not occur in patients with a non-invasive form of breast cancer. This is shown in a new study from Uppsala University, published online in the scientific journal Cancers.
An important and still unanswered question is how new genes that cause antibiotic resistance arise. In a new study, Swedish and American researchers have shown how new genes that produce resistance can arise from completely random DNA sequences. The results have been published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Until now, the reason why the drug levodopa (L-Dopa), which reduces the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, declines in efficacy after a few years’ use has been unknown. A side effect that then often occur is involuntary movements. A Swedish–French collaboration, led from Uppsala University, has now been able to connect the problems with defective metabolism of L-Dopa in the brain.
Mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with cancer are affected financially in different ways. While mothers’ incomes fall in the short term and then rise, the adverse financial repercussions on fathers occur later. Researchers at Uppsala University have investigated the socioeconomic impact on parents of having a child diagnosed with cancer.
Today, the Swedish Government decided to assign to Uppsala University the task of setting up a new national knowledge centre for research on nuclear disarmament. With an interdisciplinary approach and researchers in fields including peace and conflict research and nuclear physics, the incipient Alva Myrdal Centre will conduct research with the goal of contributing to a safer world for humankind.
The Order of Freemasons’ meticulous archives are fundamental to their identity. The unique structure of the masonic archives reinforces the secrecy and mystique of the self-image that has been fashioned by the Order — and characterises it in the eyes of others. This is shown in a recent thesis from Uppsala University, which focuses on the Masons’ archives in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In a new thesis from Uppsala University, art historian Greger Sundin studied 16th and 17th century games that have been preserved in princely collections for example. Right at the end of his work on the thesis, he and a colleague were able to solve an over 300 year old riddle about a game in the Augsburg Art Cabinet.
A comprehensive study from Uppsala University, involving more than 250,000 women, shows that oral contraceptive use protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer. The protective effect remains for several decades after discontinuing the use. The study is published in the journal Cancer Research.
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.
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to show differences in how Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody drug, interacts with the blood of healthy individuals compared to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. This has awakened hopes that this analysis method could pave the way for important breakthroughs in immunotherapy research and treatment.
Owners of a dog with diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than owners of a dog without diabetes. No shared risk of diabetes could be detected for cat owners and their cats. These novel findings, from a register-based study conducted at Uppsala University in collaboration with three other universities, have now been published in The BMJ.
The mental symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder improve following treatment with a progesterone receptor modulator, as demonstrated by SciLifeLab researcher Erika Comasco and Professor Inger Sundström-Poromaa, Uppsala University. The mechanism of action of the study drug provides insights into the potential molecular mechanisms underlying this psychiatric disorder and its treatment.
The Indian subcontinent is a hotspot for wild felines. A new study headed by Uppsala University now shows that only 6–11 per cent of the areas where three rare cat species have their habitat are protected. Lack of knowledge about these species has been an obstacle to understanding their needs for reserves. The research is presented in the journal Scientific Reports.
Hydrogen gas and methanol for fuel cells or as raw materials for the chemicals industry, for example, could be produced more sustainably using sunlight, a new Uppsala University study shows. In this study, researchers have developed a new coating material for semiconductors that may create new opportunities to produce fuels in processes that combine direct sunlight with electricity.
A large international consortium led by scientists at Uppsala University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has sequenced the genome of 130 mammals and analysed the data together with 110 existing genomes to allow scientist to identify which are the important positions in the DNA. The study is published in Nature.
