Press releases

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new material that prevents infections in wounds – a specially designed hydrogel, that works against all types of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant ones. The new material offers great hope for combating a growing global problem. The World Health Organization describes antibiotic-resistant bacteria as one of the […]

Ultraviolet patterns can make window glass visible to birds, thus preventing fatal collisions. However, it has now been shown that such windows are not likely to work for all species, but only for birds like small passerines, gulls and parrots, who have a special type of colour vision. For birds of prey, geese, pigeons and crows, these patterns should be difficult to detect. These conclusions appear today in an article by Olle Håstad and Anders Ödeen in PeerJ.

Bone cancer in dogs is affected by a variety of genetic risk factors. Researchers from Uppsala University and the Broad Institute show this in a new study published in Genome Biology.

Leaders of the major world religions can play a key role in preserving biological diversity. A new study carried out by ecologists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), among others, indicates that if the world’s religious leaders wished to bring about a change, they would be ideally positioned to do so.

A novel gene associated with canine atopic dermatitis has been identified by a team of researchers led by professors at Uppsala University and SLU, Sweden. The gene encodes a protein called plakophilin 2, which is crucial for the formation and proper functioning of the skin structure, suggesting an aberrant skin barrier as a potential risk factor for atopic dermatitis.

[PRESS RELEASE, 7 December 2012] Toxoplasma is a common ‘cat parasite’, and has previously been in the spotlight owing to its observed effect on risk-taking and other human behaviours. To some extent, it has also been associated with mental illness. A study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet now demonstrates for the first time how the parasite enters the brain to influence its host.

In a major international study, the pig genome is now mapped. Researchers from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) have contributed to the study by analysing genes that played a key role in the evolution of the domesticated pig and by mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERV), retroviruses whose genes have become part of the host organism’s genome.

[PRESS RELEASE 24 May 2012] Research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the human olfactory bulb – a structure in the brain that processes sensory input from the nose – differs from that of other mammals in that no new neurons are formed in this area after birth. The discovery, which is published in the scientific journal Neuron, is based on the age-determination of the cells using the carbon-14 method, and might explain why the human sense of smell is normally much worse than that of other animals.

A new investigation put in evidence the key role of cod as regulator of the whole Baltic Sea ecosystem. The study shows that when the cod population in the central Baltic increases, it spreads into larger areas and spills over into adjacent marginal systems where it usually does not occur, as for example the Gulf of Riga.

A recent research project has designed a device based on the construction of a cable tie for surgery and made it of the same resorbable material as that is used in surgical suture. Odd V. Höglund from SLU (Swedish university of Agricultural Sciences) also developed methods for measuring surgical stress to evaluate and compare different surgical methods.