News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Jan-2026 13:11 ET (27-Jan-2026 18:11 GMT/UTC)

8-Jan-2026

Research shows how immune system reacts to pig kidney transplants in living patients

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

Results indicate that the innate immune response remains activated even with immunosuppressant use, paving the way for new therapies to prevent organ rejection.

Journal

Nature Medicine

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

7-Jan-2026

Artificial saliva containing sugarcane protein helps protect the teeth of patients with head and neck cancer

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

In patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy, applying radiation very close to the mouth can destroy some salivary glands and compromise saliva production, which is essential for controlling bacteria and disease

Journal

Journal of Dentistry

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

7-Jan-2026

Advances in liquid biopsies as a tool for detecting lung cancer mutations

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

Researchers used a panel to assess the presence of circulating tumor DNA in plasma samples and detected changes in genes related to the development of adenocarcinoma that indicated both actionability by drugs and resistance to treatment.

Journal

Molecular Oncology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

5-Jan-2026

Second spider-parasitic mite described in Brazil

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

The parasitic mites were found on juvenile arachnids in the Butantan Institute collection. The larvae of Araneothrombium brasiliensis were collected in Rio de Janeiro. Previously, the genus had only one known species in Costa Rica.

Journal

International Journal of Acarology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

2-Jan-2026

Allowing coral reef fish stocks recover could feed millions

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study shows that allowing coral reef fish populations to recover could help fight global hunger, meeting seafood intake requirements for millions more people worldwide

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

19-Dec-2025

Four years after the Mariana mining disaster in Brazil, river fish remained contaminated

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

A comprehensive analysis conducted in 2019 detected the accumulation of 13 heavy metals and other toxic substances, advising against consumption due to risks to human health.

Journal

Total Environment Advances

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

19-Dec-2025

Potentially toxic elements in bananas grown in the Mariana disaster region exceed FAO limits

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

The study also assessed the risks of consuming cocoa and cassava grown in Linhares, a municipality in an area affected by the Fundão dam collapse in Minas Gerais, Brazil, ten years ago. The research group warns that continued consumption of food grown in contaminated soil may pose a carcinogenic risk due to the long-term accumulation of potentially toxic elements in the body

Journal

Environmental Geochemistry and Health

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

18-Dec-2025

Latin American research indicates a lower prevalence of a type of head and neck cancer

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

After analyzing over 1,400 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the study found that more aggressive histopathological variants occur at a rate of 4.6%. Previous estimates pointed to a rate of up to 15%.

Journal

Annals of Diagnostic Pathology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

18-Dec-2025

Bromeliads promote plant diversity in the forest by enriching the soil with nutrients

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

Water accumulated in the tanks of these plants living high up in trees has much higher concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, and iron than rainwater. Plants irrigated with this nutrient-rich water produced almost twice as many leaves.

Journal

Plant and Soil

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

17-Dec-2025

The COVID-19 virus manipulates host cell RNA to shut down the immune system

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

A study by the Federal University of São Paulo describes how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with the RNA of infected lung cells in an unprecedented way. The results may guide the search for new treatments and vaccines.

Journal

NAR Molecular Medicine

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo