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  • 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.

  • Dog ownership linked to lower mortality

    A team of Swedish scientists have used national registries of more than 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 to study the association between dog ownership and cardiovascular health. Their study shows that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease or to other causes during the 12-year follow-up.

  • Breastfeeding does not protect children against asthma and allergies

    The effect of breastfeeding on the risk of developing asthma and allergy has been debated for a long time. In a recent study, Uppsala University researchers show that breastfeeding might in fact increase the risk of developing hay fever and eczema, while not having any clear effect on the risk of asthma. The results have been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

  • Novel open source software for drug combination analysis reveals complex effects of combining clinically used drugs

    ​The effect of combining clinically used drugs for the treatment of colon cancer can vary widely depending on concentrations, ranging from cases where the drugs counteract each other to cases where they reinforce each other. This is the main conclusion from a cell culture analysis in which collected data were analysed using novel open source software developed by Uppsala researchers.

  • Threats from infectious diseases on Uppsala Health Summit agenda

    At the Uppsala Health Summit Tackling Infectious Disease Threats, due to start next week, experts and decision makers from ministries, academia, companies and voluntary organisations are meeting to discuss how jointly to reduce the risk of severe outbreaks.

  • Patients’ expectations influence the effectiveness of SSRI antidepressants

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed for depression and anxiety but their superiority over placebo has been questioned, generating considerable debate among researchers and clinicians. In a new study, Uppsala University researchers show that the way in which the treatment is described to the patient can be as important as the treatment itself.

  • Exhibition: Viking Age patterns may be Kufic script

    What was previously thought to be typical Viking Age, silver patterns on woven silk bands, could in fact be geometric Kufic characters. As part of an exhibition at the Enköping Museum, ongoing research is presented where a textile archaeological analysis suggests that both Allah and Ali are invoked in the pattern of the bands.

  • 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.

  • How molecular scissors cut in the right place

    A research group at Uppsala University has found out how CRISPR-Cas9 - also known as ‘molecular scissors’ - can search the genome for a specific DNA sequence. The new research findings show how Cas9 can be improved to make the molecular scissors faster and more reliable. The study is being published in Science.

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