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Topics: Research

Olof Rudbeck Day 2024 will focus on AI in care and health

Olof Rudbeck Day with focus on AI in care and health

What are the opportunities of using AI in healthcare? And what potential risks does it entail? These issues will be discussed during the Olof Rudbeck Day on 18 October. This year’s Rudbeck Prize winner, Ulf Gyllensten, will also give a lecture on his research into gynaecological cancer.

Håkan Rydin, Professor Emeritus of Plant Ecology, Uppsala University. Photo: Märta Gross Hulth

Are cows pickier than goats?

To answer this question, Linnaeus collected 643 different plant species that were then fed to horses, cows, pigs, sheep and goats. The results were carefully compiled but not analysed until now, 275 years later, when they are also published by the Linnean Society in London.

Reconstruction of the oldest sea-going reptile from the Southern Hemisphere. Nothosaurs swimming along the ancient southern polar coast of what is now New Zealand around 246 million years ago. Artwork by Stavros Kundromichalis.

Ancient polar sea reptile fossil is oldest ever found in Southern Hemisphere

An international team of scientists has identified the oldest fossil of a sea-going reptile from the Southern Hemisphere – a nothosaur vertebra found on New Zealand’s South Island. 246 million years ago, at the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, New Zealand was located on the southern polar coast of a vast super-ocean called Panthalassa.

Zhibin Zhang, docent at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Uppsala University.

Robots' sense of touch could be as fast as humans

Research at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet could pave the way for a prosthetic hand and robot to be able to feel touch like a human hand. Their study has been published in the journal Science. The technology could also be used to help restore lost functionality to patients after a stroke.

The tick Ixodes ricinus can transmit the TBE-virus to humans. Photo. Tove Hoffman

Many more infected by TBE virus than previously known

The number of infections by the tick-borne TBE virus that are not detected by health services is far higher than previously assumed. This has been shown in a new study of Swedish blood donors from Uppsala University and the University Hospital in Uppsala. The results have been published in the journal Eurosurveillance, which is associated with the EU’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

 Jana Rüegg has submitted her doctoral thesis at the Department of Literature, Uppsala University. Photo: Ute Rüegg

Small publishers increasingly important for translated literature

Over the period 1970–2016, small publishing houses became increasingly important for the publication of literature in translation in Sweden. More than ever, Nobel laureates are being published by relatively small independent publishers. A specialisation in translations often stems from a publisher’s personal interest in a language or geographical area.

Ruins of a mud brick structure near the town of Lusanga along the Kwilu River. Photo: Peter Coutros, Ghent University

New research sheds light on Bantu-speaking populations' expansion in Africa

About 350 million people across Africa speak one or more of the 500 Bantu languages. New genetic analysis of modern and ancient individuals suggests that these populations probably originated in western Africa and then moved south and east in several waves. The study has been published in the scientific journal Nature.

An eye tracker underneath the screen recorded where on the screen the infant looked at a moment-to-moment basis while they watched several images containing faces together with several other objects. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour

Genes influence whether infants prefer to look at faces or non-social objects

Whether infants at five months of age look mostly at faces or non-social objects such as cars or mobile phones is largely determined by genes. This has now been demonstrated by researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet. The findings suggest that there is a biological basis for how infants create their unique visual experiences and which things they learn most about.

Agneta Siegbahn, Professor of Clinical Coagulation Science and Mikael Åberg, researcher at the Department of Medical Sciences in Affinity Proteomics lab, SciLifeLab, at Uppsala University. Photo: Anna Frejd

New instrument for precision medicine in cardiovascular disease

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed an instrument that makes it possible to measure 21 biomarkers for cardiovascular disease simultaneously with great precision by means of a simple blood test. The aim is to use this type of tool to improve the prediction of cardiovascular complications and facilitate more personalised treatment for patients.

The subthalamic nucleus is located deep in the brain of mice and primates. The study shows that stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus causes aversion and activates neurons in the brain’s aversion system.

Location of strong sense of discomfort in brain found

Researchers have identified a new neural circuit in the brain which produces a strong sense of discomfort when activated. The discovery also allows them to show for the first time that the subthalamic nucleus, a structure in the brain that controls voluntary movements, may also play a role in the development of depression. The results could lead to better treatments for Parkinson's disease.

In the study, the researchers interviewed pre-school children aged 3–6 years about their experiences of family life and conflict. Photo: Anton Dahlberg

“They yell and I yell back”

Young children are able to talk in detail about their feelings and how things are at home. They are also good at reading their parents and their emotions by describing their behaviours, facial expressions and tone of voice. This has been shown in a new study by Uppsala University, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies.

The oldest megapredatory pliosaur, Lorrainosaurus, in the ancient Middle Jurassic sea that covered what is to day northern France 170 million years ago. Artwork by Joschua Knüppe (Germany).

Ancient sea monster remains reveal oldest mega-predatory pliosaur

The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs have been identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur – a group of ocean-dwelling reptiles closely related to the famous long-necked plesiosaurs. The findings are rare and add new knowledge to the evolution of plesiosaurs. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Genetics influence the risk of blood clots in oral contraceptive users

Women with a high genetic predisposition for blood clots are six times more likely to develop a blood clot during the first two years of using contraceptive pills according to a new study from Uppsala University. The results have been published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Contraceptive pills protect against rheumatoid arthritis

Contraceptive pills can reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, while hormone treatment in connection with menopause can increase the risk later in life. In a new study of more than 200,000 women in the UK, researchers at Uppsala University have discovered connections between the use of sex hormones and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Men with metastatic prostate cancer live longer thanks to new drugs

Survival rates for men with metastatic prostate cancer have increased by an average of six months, something which coincides with the gradual introduction of ‘dual treatment’ since 2016. This is according to a register study of all Swedish men diagnosed between 2008 and 2020. The results are published in the medical journal JAMA Network open.

A Large Ground-finch (Geospiza magnirostris) on Daphne Major, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Photo: Erik Enbody

Genome study reveals 30 years of Darwin’s finch evolution

An international team of researchers has released a study on contemporary evolutionary change in natural populations. Their study uses one of the largest genomic datasets ever produced for animals in their natural environment, comprising nearly 4,000 Darwin’s finches. The study has revealed the genetic basis of adaptation in this iconic group. The results are published in the journal Science

Example of pottery roughly 6,000 years old from the Lublin-Volhynian agrarian culture, Książnice 2, Poland. Photo credit: Stanisław Wilk

New research links early Europeans’ cultural and genetic development over several thousand years

A new DNA study has nuanced the picture of how different groups intermingled during the European Stone Age, but also how certain groups of people were actually isolated. The study was carried out by researchers at Uppsala University working with an international team of researchers, who produced new genetic data from 56 Central and Eastern European individuals from the Stone Age.

An X-ray flash illuminates a molecule. Credit: Raphael Jay

X-rays visualise how one of nature’s strongest bonds breaks

The use of short flashes of X-ray light brings scientists one big step closer toward developing better catalysts to transform the greenhouse gas methane into a less harmful chemical. The result, published in the journal Science, reveals for the first time how carbon-hydrogen bonds of alkanes break and how the catalyst works in this reaction.

Professor Suparna Sanyal and PhD student Andrew Emmerich discussing different states of protein synthesis in Giardia intestinalis. Credit: Arindam De Tarafder

Uppsala scientists reveal protein synthesis mechanism in Giardia

Scientists from Uppsala University have used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal details of the protein synthesis mechanism in the parasite Giardia intestinalis, which causes diarrhoeal disease. The new insights could be valuable for screening specific drugs against Giardia and other protozoan parasites.

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