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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Dec-2025 03:11 ET (14-Dec-2025 08:11 GMT/UTC)

Secondary forests restore fresh water sources in degraded landscapes

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Analyses of microbial communities in streams across different land use types suggests that passive reforestation rapidly restores water quality in lowland tropical watersheds

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Edward M. and Jeanne C. Kashian, Simons Foundation

Highly abundant virus in humans could be a biomarker for COVID-19

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo shows that levels of TTV, an apparently inoffensive virus considered an indicator of immunodepression, tend to be higher in people infected by SARS-CoV-2. TTV load declines as the symptoms of COVID-19 disappear, the researchers write in PLOS ONE .

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing can be used for early detection of respiratory disorders in the obese

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo shows test results are highly applicable in practice to identify exercise limitation, regardless of overweight or obesity.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Study extends amphibians’ known reproductive modes from 39 to 74 and creates new classification

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Marsupial frogs like Fritziana goeldii carry their eggs on their back and deposit tadpoles in bromeliad water cups or bamboo stalks, where the offspring complete their development.

Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Heparin dose capable of preventing COVID-19 deaths is four times higher than the dose recommended by WHO

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This is one of the main findings of a clinical trial involving 465 patients at 28 hospitals in six countries, including Brazil. The likelihood of dying was 78% lower for the group given a therapeutic dose of the anti-coagulant.

Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Artificial intelligence accelerates search for markers of resistance to sugarcane yellow leaf disease

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers used machine learning algorithms and traditional statistical methods to associate disease resistance with genetic traits. One of the varieties considered resistant has just been launched commercially in Brazil.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Ancestors of whale sharks in Panama may come from distant waters

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Genetic population connectivity study of the endangered whale shark in Pacific Panama provides important baseline data for conservation efforts

Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science
Funder: MarViva Foundation, International Community Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Panamá

Scientists discover how forest fires influence rain cloud formation in the Amazon

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Particles released into the atmosphere by fire modify the water droplet freezing process and can affect precipitation, according to a paper in Communications Earth & Environment.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Horse hyperimmune antibody may help the fight against COVID-19, Brazilian study finds

Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (INBEB)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A Brazilian study has demonstrated that a hyperimmune antibody produced in horses may be an efficient approach to combat covid-19. Tests conducted in hamsters showed the ability of the treatment to reduce viral load in the pulmonary tissues, and to improve the animal clinical conditions. The neutralizing activity of the equine antibody cocktail has been proved to be high against the P.1 (Gamma) and P.2 variants.

Journal: iScience
Funder: Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation for Virus Network, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support in the State of Rio de Janeiro (Faperj), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), National Institute of Science and Technology for Structural Biology and Bioimaging (INBEB)

Opportunistic bacterium increases its virulence by ‘poaching’ zinc and iron from hosts

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of São Paulo have unraveled the strategy used by Chromobacterium violaceum, a pathogen found in water and soil in tropical and subtropical regions, to increase its capacity to replicate and infect host organisms. The discovery offers a route for the development of novel therapies.

Journal: Infection and Immunity
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo