Ethical challenges of human brain simulation
One of the greatest challenges of modern science is understanding the human brain. Uppsala University’s Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) is part of the European Commission flagship initiative to simulate the human brain and will look at the philosophical and ethical implications of this.
Peace researchers worried over decrease in peace agreements
Over the past few years the signing of peace agreements has become an increasingly rare phenomenon, while the number of armed conflicts has increased. This is described by peace researchers at Uppsala University’s Conflict Data Program (UCDP) in the latest report on states in armed conflict, States in Armed Conflict 2011. This is a cause for serious concern.
Carin Göring’s remains identified by researchers at Uppsala University
The putative remains of Carin Göring, wife of Nazi leader Herman Göring, were found in 1991 at a site close to where she had been buried. In a recently published article, Marie Allen, professor of forensic genetics at Uppsala University, and her associates present evidence supporting that it is Carin Göring’s remains that have been identified.
Anthropological expertise facilitates multicultural women's health care
Collaboration between medical and anthropological expertise can solve complex clinical problems in today's multicultural women's healthcare, shows Pauline Binder, a medical anthropologist, who will present her thesis on 1 December at the Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala University.
Importance of citizens for building of a new nation brand
What role do new media play in creating the content of the concept of a nation? Today there’s a great deal of interest in marketing the distinctive character of countries as brands in a global market. The sociologist Magdalena Kania-Lundholm shows that new media can be a positive democratic force when countries undergoing dramatic change seek a new national identity.
Male competition an evolutionary engine of genital evolution
When a female mates with several males, these will compete over the fertilization her eggs. This is an important evolutionary force that has led to the evolution of a diversity of male sexual organ morphologies. This is revealed in a study of seed beetles published today in the leading scientific journal Current Biology.
Flycatchers’ genomes explain how one species became two
In an article in the leading scientific journal Nature, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden describe how they mapped the genomes of the European pied flycatcher and the collared flycatcher and found that it is disparate chromosome structures rather than separate adaptations in individual genes that underlies the separation of the species.
Migratory birds’ ticks can spread viral haemorrhagic fever
A type of haemorrhagic fever (Crimean-Congo) that is prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans has begun to spread to new areas in southern Europe. Now Swedish researchers have shown that migratory birds carrying ticks are the possible source of contagion. The discovery is being published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Evolution of new genes in the laboratory in real time
How new genes arise poses a fundamental biological question. New findings by researchers at Uppsala University and in the US show that it is possible to get new genes to develop in a laboratory environment using a rapid, stepwise process where an already existing gene with multiple functions is initially amplified.
Discovery of gatekeeper nerve cells explains the effect of nicotine on learning and memory
Researchers at Uppsala University have, together with Brazilian collaborators, discovered a new group of nerve cells that regulate processes of learning and memory. These cells act as gatekeepers and carry a receptor for nicotine, which can explain our ability to remember and sort information.