News from Latin America
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Aug-2025 06:10 ET (20-Aug-2025 10:10 GMT/UTC)
15-Aug-2025
Researcher from FAPESP-supported center participates in international initiative to improve oxylipin analysis
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
Global guideline establishes new standard for investigating bioactive lipids related to inflammation, immunity, cancer, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Accurately quantifying them in biological samples is challenging and requires rigorous methodologies.
- Journal
- Science Signaling
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
14-Aug-2025
Indigenous researcher revives traditional medical practices of his people
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
The study accessed ancestral knowledge and cataloged 175 medicinal plants used to treat diseases such as parasitic worms, diabetes, and hypertension. Community participation was central to all stages of the study.
- Journal
- Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
13-Aug-2025
Fermentation method transforms unripe fruits into specialty coffees
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
Normally discarde, green beans from the Arara cultivar were subjected to airless fermentation and produced high-quality beverages in blind tests. Researchers see potential for the product to be valued in domestic and foreign markets.
- Journal
- Food and Bioprocess Technology
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
12-Aug-2025
Laser therapy enhances treatment of fungus resistant to conventional medication
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
Researchers at a FAPESP-supported research center have managed to reduce Candida albicans’ resistance to fungicides by incorporating photodynamic inactivation techniques into the treatment. The results of the study indicate that the technology can be used in both human healthcare and the prevention of food contamination.
- Journal
- Photochemistry and Photobiology
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
6-Aug-2025
Galápagos under threat: a comprehensive look at the natural hazards they face
Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral
What do volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tropical storms have in common? More than it seems—especially when they occur on fragile volcanic islands like the Galápagos. This iconic archipelago, world-renowned for its unique biodiversity, is increasingly under threat from multiple natural hazards, many of which do not act in isolation. A new study led by researchers at the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) presents an innovative multi-hazard analysis framework aimed at helping prevent disasters and protect both human communities and their ecosystems.
- Journal
- Natural Hazards
6-Aug-2025
Decline of seed-dispersing animals hinders fight against climate change
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
International team of researchers issues global warning about the need to include frugivores in conservation, forest restoration, and climate change mitigation strategies.Seeds consumed by animals germinate more and faster and establish themselves in safer places to grow.
- Journal
- Nature Reviews Biodiversity
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
5-Aug-2025
Corals in Brazilian archipelago capture carbon equivalent to the burning of 324,000 liters of gasoline per year
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloPeer-Reviewed Publication
A single species found in the Alcatrazes Archipelago, brain coral, produces around 170 tons of calcium carbonate annually. This represents the retention of approximately 20 tons of carbon in mineral form, which can last for centuries or millennia. A study by the Federal University of São Paulo highlights the potential ecosystem services provided by subtropical corals.
- Journal
- Marine Environmental Research
- Funder
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
4-Aug-2025
Smithsonian digitizes pollen From 18,000 plant species
Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePeer-Reviewed Publication
Digitized Pollen Database for Paleontology Research, Allergy Medicine and More
- Journal
- Plants People Planet
4-Aug-2025
A comparison of colorful hamlets from the Caribbean challenges ideas about how species arise
Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePeer-Reviewed Publication
Scientists have been thinking about how new species evolve since Darwin wrote On The Origin of Species in 1859. The results presented here call into question some of the most common explanations of how species originate
- Journal
- Science Advances