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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 7-Oct-2025 17:11 ET (7-Oct-2025 21:11 GMT/UTC)

Researchers in Brazil discover a gene that may afford protection against COVID-19

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

Scientists at the University of São Paulo analyzed blood samples donated by six serodiscordant couples where female partners were resistant to SARS-CoV-2 despite intense contact with their infected male partners. Overexpression of the gene IFIT3 in these asymptomatic women suggests it affords protection and could be a target for novel antiviral therapies.

Journal: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Western Kenyan farmers favor restoring land with native trees. Yet barriers remain

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Smallholders in Western Kenya strongly support native-tree restoration due to long-term benefits for landscape restoration, productivity and livelihoods, new research shows. New digital tools and community buy-in are successfully backing restoration projects, though barriers remain. Researchers say that short-term farmers’ needs and concerns to planting trees should be given more attention to ensure the success of restoration projects.

Journal: People and Nature

Research assesses how infertility treatments can affect family and work relationships

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

Study involved 242 couples living in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (Brazil); men showed higher levels of work-family conflict, while women were more affected by stress.

Journal: Psychology Health & Medicine
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Registrations open for São Paulo Advanced School on Precision Health

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Meeting Announcement

The school will bring together international specialists from research centers and healthtechs to discuss precision health’s state-of-the-art as accomplished through translational/comparative approaches and One Health vision.

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

Social bonds are essential for capuchin monkeys to learn new skills, study shows

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

Study published in PNAS by researchers from Brazil and the UK shows that primates from the Brazilian semi-arid biome are able to acquire new knowledge as long as their presence is tolerated by other members of the group.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Bioactive compounds with possible industrial applications are identified in extremophilic bacteria from the Andes

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

Researchers isolated a strain of Pseudomonas alcaligenes that can withstand temperatures as high as 44 °C from a hot spring in Chile, and characterized the substances produced by the bacterium that help it survive extreme conditions.

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

Uprooting Cassava Disease: scientists identify causes of two devastating diseases

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An estimated 800 million people's food and income are threatened by rapidly spreading cassava diseases. But in good news for cassava breeders and farmers, breakthrough research has established the pathogens and the first diagnostic tests for two diseases: Cassava Frogskin Disease and Cassava Witches’ Broom Disease. This achievement can revolutionize cassava disease management across Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Southeast Asia, where farmers and researchers have been working side-by-side to fight the spread of these diseases for decades.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Frogs and toads of the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest will suffer the worst impact of drought combined with warming

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

A study published in Nature Climate Change predicts that 36% of anurans’ habitats worldwide will soon be threatened by a combination of rising temperatures and water scarcity. Brazil has the greatest diversity of anurans in the world and some of the most vulnerable anuran habitats.

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

COVID-19 vaccine developed at University of São Paulo presents promising results in animal trials

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

The vaccine formulation has proved to be highly protective, safe and versatile. Moreover, it can serve as a basis for the development of zika and dengue vaccines, for example.

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

Overcoming barriers to food systems sustainability: an interconnected framework

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have organized structural barriers to food systems change into a comprehensive framework, with the aim of empowering policymakers, civil society organizations, and researchers to tackle food sustainability challenges more effectively.

Journal: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

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