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Christiana Figueres and Agnès Callamard will speak in Uppsala University’s Aula Magna.

Press invitation: Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture with Christiana Figueres and Agnès Callamard

On 17 September 2021, the annual Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture will take place at Uppsala University’s Aula Magna. This year’s event features both the 2021 Lecture by Dr. Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, and the 2019 Lecture by Christiana Figueres, chief architect of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which was previously postposed. Journalists and representatives o

Illustration of the RecA filament by David Goodsell.

Uppsala researchers solve long-standing biological search problem

How the cell can mend broken DNA using another DNA copy as template has puzzled researchers for years. How is it possible to find the correct sequences in the busy interior of the cell? Researchers from Uppsala university have now discovered the solution; it is easier to find a rope than a ball if you are blindfolded.

Göran Nygren, Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt.

​Parental support crucial for better school performance

“The school system is not fulfilling its compensatory mission. Instead, it is entrenching the inequalities of life opportunities among children and youth, and social reproduction and segregation,” says Göran Nygren, researcher at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University, who recently defended his thesis.

​Genetic test better than blood test for cardiovascular diseases

Determining an individual’s blood group based on genetic tests instead of merely traditional blood tests can provide a better picture of the risk of cardiovascular diseases. If a patient has two genetic variants of A, B or AB, the risk is twice as high compared with if one is O. This is the finding of a new study from the Uppsala University using data from UK Biobank.

Dental calculus from Swedish brown bears help researchers study antibiotic resistance over time. Credit: Mats Björklund

History of human antibiotic use written in the oral bacteria of wild brown bears

An international team of researchers used historical museum collections to study the effects of human-made antibiotics over the entire history of their application. They found that the increased use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture in the 1950-1990s led to increases in antibiotic resistance in wild Swedish brown bears. However, the latest 20 years show a downward trend in resistance.

Callosobruchus maculatus beetle and their host plant Vigna radiata. Credit: Paula Vasconcelos

Male Y chromosome facilitates the evolution of sex differences in body size

Females and males differ in many ways and yet they share the same genome. The only exception is the male Y chromosome. Using beetles as a study system, new research from Uppsala University, now published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows that despite of the Y chromosome containing very few genes, it can dramatically change male body size and thus facilitate the evolution of sex differences.

How hormones may alleviate side-specific movement difficulties after brain injury

Hormones released after a brain injury contribute to movement problems on the left and right sides of the body, scientists from Uppsala University and elsewhere can now show in a new study in rats. The results also suggest that hormone-blocking treatments may help counteract these effects, a finding that has implications for treating people with traumatic brain injuries or stroke.

Jordi Carreras-Puigvert and Jonne Rietdijk studying cell images being acquired by a high-content microscope. Photo: Uppsala University

Method for discovery of antiviral drugs

The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for methods to identify new or repurposed drugs as antivirals. Researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet are now presenting a new screening approach that focuses on the identification of virus-specific morphological changes in virus-infected cells.

The relationship between some of the major human cell types analyzed in the publication by Karlsson et al (2021). Image: Human Protein Atlas

A single cell type map of human tissues

In a study published in the US journal Science Advances, a single cell type map of human tissues is presented. An open access atlas has been launched with more than 250,000 interactive plots to allow researchers to explore the expression in individual single cell types for all protein-coding genes in these tissues.

Jenny Björklund, associate professor of literature and senior lecturer in gender studies at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University

​Why mothers in novels leave their families

Mothers leaving their families is not a new theme in Swedish fiction. But the reasons for leaving have changed. It is no longer about lack of gender equality, instead, they feel suffocated by the nuclear family, by the children or simply by society’s demands to have children. That is one of the conclusions in Jenny Björklund’s research on why mothers in 21st century books leave their families.

In the seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus), the male has a spiny genital structure that enhances its reproductive success. Photo: Johanna Rönn

Male beetles’ spiny genitalia both harmful and beneficial to females

Male seed beetles with genital structures that injure females may have greater reproductive success. As new research from Uppsala University shows, females that mate with such males benefit, in the sense that their offspring are healthier. This new piece of the puzzle will help scientists to understand how complex mating interactions between males and females have developedevolved.

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Uppsala University - quality, knowledge, and creativity since 1477

Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. With more than 50,000 students and 7,500 employees in Uppsala and Visby, we are a broad university with research in social sciences, humanities, technology, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Our mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to society on a long-term basis. Uppsala University is regularly ranked among the world’s top universities.

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Sweden

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