Should public health-care systems provide couples with expanded screening for genetic disorders before they decide to become pregnant? Screening programmes could increase our reproductive choices and autonomy. But there are ethical issues at stake.
Uppsala Health Summit will offer up to four travel grants to journalists to attend the summit 7 - 9 October themed Healthy Urban Childhoods at Uppsala Castle, Sweden. The grant is intended for journalists with a demonstrated interest in the area, and who otherwise would not have the possibility to attend due to unavailability of funds. Last day to apply is 3 May 2019.
What do we need to be able to store carbon dioxide in bedrock and thereby reduce the human impact on the global climate? At the Celsius-Linnaeus lectures on 7 February, geologist Martin Blunt and microbiologist and toxicologist Linda S. Birnbaum will present research findings on some of the biggest challenges facing humanity.
The White-browed Shortwing has been considered to be a single species. But now the mainland and Taiwan Island populations have been studied by an international team of researchers, led by Uppsala University. They analysed DNA, plumages, structure, songs and geographical distributions, and concluded that the continental and Taiwanese populations are actually three rather than one species.
Using DNA sequences for 402 of the 452 species of the world’s “babblers”, an international team from China, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and the USA have analysed the evolutionary relationships among these species. Many of these species have not previously been studied using genetic methods, and this is by far the most comprehensive analysis of this group of birds to date.
Norse World is a new database which will make it easier for researchers to study perceptions of the surrounding world in Medieval Scandinavian literature. The new tool is a digital resource aimed at researchers in fields such as language history and philology, comparative literature, manuscript studies and digital humanities. It will be freely available to both researchers and the public.
Through random mutation the sequences of our proteins slowly change over time, usually without affecting function. But sometimes new functions will be invented in this process. Scientists at Uppsala University have studied such a case in molecular detail. The results are published in Science Advances and show how several factors conspire to shape a plastic protein-protein interaction.
Star polymers are within the most topologically entangled macromolecules. With a simulation over a hundred times faster than earlier studies, it is demonstrated that the mean square displacement scales with a power law 1/16 in time, instead of the previously assumed zero. It suggests that star polymer motion is the result of two linear relaxations coinciding in time.
A study that examined the shape of hundreds of fossilized shark teeth suggests that modern shark biodiversity was triggered by the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event, about 66 million years ago. This finding is reported this week in Current Biology.
A new study by researchers at Uppsala University and INGV, Italy, sheds light on magma storage under the currently active Agung volcano on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Magma at Agung is stored at both mantle (~20 km) and shallow crustal (~5 km) depths, which may be a potential cause for sudden pressure-driven eruptions in this densely populated part of the world. (Scientific Reports 180712)
Cellular lipids are more efficient than proteins in trapping most drugs and hence reducing the free intracellular drug concentration. This is shown by researchers at Uppsala University in an article published in Molecular Pharmaceutic.
One strategy for cancer therapy is to inhibit the development of blood vessels in the tumour. Researchers at Uppsala University show in a new study how the protein CD93 interacts with the protein network that is required for tumour vessels to form properly. Blocking this interaction could be used as a means to hamper blood vessel development and slow down the cancer.
A new study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry suggests that infants who pay little attention to synchronous sights and sounds may be at elevated risk of later being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This knowledge about early development in ASD may contribute to earlier detection and intervention in the future.
Participation in a post-traumatic stress group can be an effective help for unaccompanied refugee minors. In a new study, one in five young people completely recovered from their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and many reported improved symptoms after having participated in a group. The study from Uppsala University is the first in Scandinavia using the Teaching Recovery Techniques.
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.
Previous research has shown that there is a connection between epigenetic changes and some of our common illnesses. But what does this connection mean? A new study shows that external factors, such as lifestyle aspects, often affect both the epigenetic pattern and cause the disease. The results have been published in PLOS Genetics.
Preschool children in joint physical custody have less psychological symptoms than those who live mostly or only with one parent after a separation. That shows a new Swedish study of 3,656 children, done by researchers from Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet and the research institute CHESS, which is now published in Acta Pædiatrica.
Newly discovered human-like footprints from Crete may put the established narrative of early human evolution to the test. The footprints are approximately 5.7 million years old and were made at a time when previous research puts our ancestors in Africa – with ape-like feet.
An extensive exercise to map genetic variation in Sweden has found 33 million genetic variants, 10 million of which are novel. Large-scale DNA sequencing methods were used to analyse the whole genome of 1000 individuals from different parts of the country. The study was led by researchers at Uppsala University, who have published their findings in the European Journal of Human Genetics.
"Which factors increase the chance of aging with well-maintained functions?" Older men who never smoked, avoided obesity and had held a healthy Mediterranean-inspired diet have good chances of maintaining their independence at a very high age.