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Topics: Education

  • Biobank storage time as important as age

    The amount of time a blood sample used for medical research has been stored at a biobank may affect the test results as much as the blood sample provider’s age. These are the findings of a new study from Uppsala University, published in journal EBioMedicine. Until now, medical research has taken into account age, sex and health factors, but it turns out that storage time is just as important.

  • Simplified approach to drug development with Upsalite

    For the first time, researchers have revealed the nanostructure of the mesoporous magnesium carbonate Upsalite® and pore size control was achieved without organic templates or swelling agents. By controlling the pore structure of the material the amorphous phase stabilisation exerted on poorly soluble drug compounds can be tuned and the drug delivery rate can be tailored.

  • ​Antidepressants boost cognitive behavioural therapy for social anxiety

    Treatments for social anxiety disorder often include either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but new research from Uppsala University indicates that social anxiety disorder is best treated with the combination of SSRI and CBT, which also improves emotion processing in the brain. The results are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

  • Evolution of vertebrate vision

    A new study published in BMC Evolutionary Biology by the team lead by Xesús Abalo and Dan Larhammar, Department of Neuroscience and SciLifeLab at Uppsala University, sheds light on the evolutionary origin fast vertebrate vision and the specialisations in zebrafish to adapt to changing lighting conditions.

  • Bird genomes contain ‘fossils’ of parasites that now infect humans

    In rare instances, DNA is known to have jumped from one species to another. If a parasite’s DNA jumps to its host’s genome, it could leave evidence of that interaction that could be found millions of years later — a DNA ‘fossil’ of sorts. Researchers from Uppsala University have discovered a new type of so-called transposable element that occurred in the genomes of certain birds and nematodes.

  • Lowered birth rates one reason why women outlive men

    Using unique demographic records on 140,600 reproducing individuals from the Utah Population Database (USA), a research team led from Uppsala University has come to the conclusion that lowered birth rates are one reason why women outlive men in today’s societies. The study is published in Scientific Reports.

  • Jon Elster awarded this year’s Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science

    The Johan Skytte Prize annually recognizes the most valuable contribution to the field of Political Science. This year’s prize is awarded to Professor Jon Elster, Robert K. Merton Professor in Social Sciences at Columbia University and titular professor at College de France, Paris.

  • Small birds’ vision: not so sharp but superfast

    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 .

  • Scientists discover new microbes that thrive deep in the earth

    They live several kilometers under the surface of the earth, need no light or oxygen and can only be seen in a microscope. By sequencing genomes of a newly discovered group of microbes, the Hadesarchaea, an international team of researchers have found out how these microorganisms make a living in the deep subsurface biosphere of our planet.

  • ​New species of bird discovered in India and China by international team of scientists

    A new species of bird has been described in north-eastern India and adjacent parts of China by a team of scientists from Sweden, China, the US, India and Russia, headed by Professor Per Alström, Uppsala University, and Swedish University of Agricultural Science, SLU. The bird has been named the Himalayan Forest Thrush, Zoothera salimalii.

  • An online game reveals something fishy about mathematical models

    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.

  • Early contact with dogs linked to lower risk of asthma

    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.

  • Distressed damsels cry for help

    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.

  • Learning from ants how to build transportation networks

    Using mathematical modeling and field data, researchers at the mathematics department at Uppsala University have found the basic rules that allow ants to build efficient and low cost transport networks without discarding robustness. The study is now published in the Royal Society journal Interface.

  • New method to predict increased risk of non-familial breast cancer

    By detecting cancer at an early stage, or even predicting who has an increased risk of being affected, the possibilities to treat the disease can be radically improved. In an international study led from Uppsala University the researchers have discovered that apparently healthy breast cells contain genetic aberrations that can be associated with an increased risk for non-familial breast cancer.

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