Keyword: Faculty of Science

Throughout the history of life, new groups of species have flourished at the expense of earlier ones and global biodiversity has varied dramatically over geologic time. A new study led by the University of Turku shows that completely different factors regulate the rise and fall of species.

Tree ferns still occupy the tropical moist forests in Australia, even though they shared their “golden age” with dinosaurs.

The research group of Professor Rami Vainio is developing novel particle instruments and innovative, radiation-tolerant solutions to nano-satellites such as Aalto-1. At the beginning of June, the research group of the University of Turku received an eight-year funding from the Academy of Finland as part of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space (FORESAIL) led by Professor Minna Palmroth (University of Helsinki).

A new study led by Michael West of Lowell Observatory and Roberto De Propris of the University of Turku reveals that the most massive galaxies in the universe have been aligned with their surroundings for at least ten billion years. This discovery shows that galaxies, like people, are influenced by their environment from a young age.

Researchers at the University of Turku have developed a synthetic material based on the natural hackmanite mineral which produces broad spectrum white light in lamps. The hackmanite created by the Inorganic Materials Chemistry research group is a low-cost material emitting luminescence closer to sunlight than that of the currently used lanthanides.

– This has been a really great day. This prestigious celebration, the many traditions and that we were conferred in the year that Finland turns 100 feels like a privilege, said Doctor of Philosophy Annika Adamsson outside the Turku Cathedral. And she was not the only one. Finland 100 celebration was mentioned dozens of times throughout the celebration.

Turku BioImaging has been granted funding from the FIRI programme of the Academy of Finland. One of the end uses of the funding will be a new 3D super-resolution microscope. The device will continue the super-resolution heritage of bioimaging in Turku: Stefan Hell began developing super-resolved fluorescence microscopy at the University of Turku and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in 2014. The granted funding will enable the researchers at Turku BioImaging to examine incredibly accurate 3D images of live cells.

The President of the Republic of Finland granted the honorary title of Academician of Science to Academy Professor Eva-Mari Aro. Professor Aro is a pioneer in molecular plant biology.

Researchers from Turku Centre for Biotechnology have observed that a protein called SHANK prevents the spread of breast cancer cells to the surrounding tissue. The SHANK protein has been previously studied only in the central nervous system, and it is known that its absence or gene mutations are related to autism. The research was conducted at Turku Centre for Biotechnology.

The new animal species discovered by the researchers of the Biodiversity Unit at the University of Turku have attracted worldwide attention and interest. In 2015 and 2016, the researchers formally described, for example, the Rattus detentus rat, the Clistopyga caramba wasp, the Varanus semotus monitor lizard and a wasp that felts spider silk. The new and unique species have quickly become some of the most discussed new animal discoveries in international media and popular blogs.

Finnish researchers have made a ground-breaking discovery revealing new molecular information on how the brain regulates depression and anxiety. They found that a protein called JNK when active, represses the generation of new neurons in the hippocampus. By inhibiting JNK solely in newly generated nerve cells in this region, they were able to alleviate anxiety and depressive behaviour in mice.