Published 26 September 2017 Photo: Kennet Ruona Every year, millions of tons of bird feathers from slaughterhouses are wasted. In the future, we can instead perhaps make use of the protein in the feathers and eat them. Researchers in biotechnology at Lund University in Sweden have identified and refined a microorganism capable of converting various forms of organic waste into products for food, an

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/watch-wasted-bird-feathers-turned-food - 2025-03-15

Published 27 September 2017 Photo: Rodrigo Villagomez Lab experiments show that the chemical compound damsin found in the plant Ambrosia arborescens inhibits the growth and spread of cancer stem cells. The similar but synthetically produced ambrosin has the same positive effect, according to researchers at Lund University and University Major of San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia. The plant Ambrosia ar

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/plant-substance-inhibits-cancer-stem-cells - 2025-03-15

Published 29 September 2017 Photo: Anders Hedenström For the first time, researchers are able to prove that there is an optimal speed for certain insects when they fly. At this speed, they are the most efficient and consume the least amount of energy. Corresponding phenomena have previously been demonstrated in birds, but never among insects. Previous studies of bumblebees have shown that they con

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/new-study-changes-our-view-flying-insects - 2025-03-15

Published 5 October 2017 Photo: Brett Seymour Researchers have discovered several extraordinary items at the Antikythera shipwreck site in Greece, including bronze statue pieces and a mystery disc decorated with a bull. The statue pieces, notably a bronze arm and two marble feet attached to a plinth, were found lodged under massive boulders, leading the international team to believe that at least

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/antikythera-shipwreck-yields-remarkable-artifacts - 2025-03-15

Published 5 October 2017 Carlos Rovira Cancer researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered a new class of fusion genes with properties that affect and may drive the development of cancer. A fusion gene occurs when a chromosomal break brings two separate genes together into a new functioning gene. So far, the research has focused on protein-coded fusion genes. However, human genes consi

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/discovery-new-fusion-gene-class-may-affect-development-cancer - 2025-03-15

Published 9 October 2017 Helena Elding Larsson There has been a fear that the swine flu vaccine, Pandemrix, would increase the risk of autoimmune diseases other than narcolepsy. However, a new study of children from Sweden and Finland shows that the vaccine increased neither the risk of developing autoantibodies against insulin-producing beta cells nor the occurrence of type 1 diabetes. “On the co

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/risk-type-1-diabetes-not-increased-swine-flu-vaccine-pandemrix - 2025-03-15

Published 10 October 2017 Liyana Yusof Spinach is a nutritious vegetable, but is not recommended for infants because of its nitrate content. Now a doctoral thesis from Lund University in Sweden presents a simple method capable of reducing the nitrate content by up to 70 per cent. Nitrate is a common nutrient for plants and is therefore also present in other leafy green vegetables, such as arugula

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/watch-new-method-reduces-nitrate-content-spinach - 2025-03-15

Published 17 October 2017 Photo: Ajay Narendra How can a bee fly straight home in the middle of the night after a complicated route through thick vegetation in search of food? For the first time, researchers have been able to show what happens in the brain of the bee. The bee brain Bees and many other animals use what is known as optical flow to determine how fast they are going and how far they h

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/how-bees-find-their-way-home - 2025-03-15

Published 17 October 2017 Tasbacka danica (Photo: Johan Lindgren) Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered well-preserved pigments and other biomolecules in a 54 million-year-old baby sea turtle. The molecular analyses show that the turtle’s shell contained pigments to protect it from harmful UV rays of the sun. The researchers investigated the microscopic and molecular contents of

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/exceptionally-preserved-sea-turtle-reveals-ancient-sun-protection - 2025-03-15

Published 19 October 2017 Photo: Kristina Lindgärde In recent years, electric roads have emerged as potential alternatives to the heavy and expensive batteries currently needed in electric road vehicles. Now researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed an even smarter technology – that doesn’t require digging up stretches of road to install the system. Instead, a small conductive rail i

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/watch-new-electric-road-offers-flexible-charging - 2025-03-15

Published 20 October 2017 Food researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered that consuming small amounts of chromium mixed with certain amino acids before eating is healthy. Why? Well, this mixture diluted in water suppresses the blood sugar spike that occurs when we eat. Now, they are hoping that the drink – which tastes like ordinary mineral water – will be able to compete with soft

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/new-drink-keeps-blood-sugar-check - 2025-03-15

Published 20 October 2017 Håkan Håkansson (Photo: Jenny Loftrup) A new online portal opening today at Lund University in Sweden makes a unique archive containing first-hand accounts from Nazi concentration camp survivors freely accessible to the general public. During World War II, Ravensbrück, north of Berlin in Germany, was a concentration camp mainly reserved for women and children. During the

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/holocaust-survivors-stories-made-available-online - 2025-03-15

Published 23 October 2017 Map: Caroline Björnerås The iron concentration in lakes is increasing in many parts of northern Europe, including Sweden. This has been shown in a study in which researchers at Lund University in Sweden examined 23 years of data from 10 countries. High iron levels contribute to browner water; furthermore, iron binds environmental toxins such as lead and arsenic. The resea

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/unique-study-more-iron-lakes-making-them-brown - 2025-03-15

Published 25 October 2017 Torgny Sunnerhagen and Magnus Rasmussen. (Photo: Tove Smeds) A risk assessment system developed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows which patients, with a certain type of streptococcal bacteria in the blood, need to be examined for a heart valve infection – a serious condition requiring prolonged medical treatment. “Our assessment system can help reduce unne

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/new-method-helps-rule-out-heart-valve-infection - 2025-03-15

Published 30 October 2017 The designer, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, next to the sculpture she created. Charlotte is holding the Ekeby Meteorite, which inspired the work. Photo: D. Kovacevic The University’s new jubilee sculpture, created by Charlotte Gyllenhammar, was unveiled on Saturday 21 October, as part of LU’s 350th anniversary celebrations. The sculpture, Meteorite, is made of black-patinated b

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/fallen-meteorite-new-jubilee-sculpture-lundagard - 2025-03-15

Published 1 November 2017 The image illustrates where in the brain the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s occur through accumulation of the β-amyloid protein. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have for the first time convincingly shown where in the brain the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s occur. The discovery could potentially become significant to future Alzheimer’s research while contributing t

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/new-research-shows-where-brain-earliest-signs-alzheimers-occur - 2025-03-15

Published 6 November 2017 Lucas S Kumosa and Jens Schouenborg (Photo: Tove Smeds) Researchers already know that gelatin-covered electrode implants cause less damage to brain tissue than electrodes with no gelatin coating. Researchers at the Neuronano Research Centre (NRC) at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that microglia, the brain’s cleansing cells, and the enzymes that the cells use in

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/gelatin-accelerates-healing-blood-brain-barrier-acute-brain-injury - 2025-03-15

Published 6 November 2017 Johan Agebjörn, Hanne Linder and Elia Psouni Postnatal depression among new mothers is a well-known phenomenon. Knowledge about depression in new fathers, however, is more limited. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that depression among new fathers may be more common than previously believed. There is also a major risk that it remains undetected using today

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/depressed-fathers-risk-not-getting-help - 2025-03-15

Published 7 November 2017 Helena Elding Larsson Can insulin taken as an infant in small doses together with food render the immune system used to insulin and thus prevent type 1 diabetes? Can a gluten-free diet and probiotics prevent celiac disease (so called gluten intolerance)? These questions will be asked by two separate studies that are being planned at Lund University in Sweden. A new compre

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/newborn-babies-be-screened-studies-type-1-diabetes-and-celiac-disease-gluten-intolerance - 2025-03-15

Published 10 November 2017 Photo: Anders Hedenström Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have compared how much energy bats use when flying, depending on whether they have large or small ears. Large ears increase air resistance, meaning that long-eared bats are forced to expend more energy than species with small ears. On the plus side, large ears generate more lift and provide better hearing.

https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/pros-and-cons-large-ears - 2025-03-15