News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Jun-2025 16:09 ET (14-Jun-2025 20:09 GMT/UTC)

23-May-2023

Scientists from the Global South innovate to track ongoing amphibian pandemic

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists from India, Panama and Australia collaborated in the development and validation of an assay that could be used to diagnose Indian strains of the amphibian chytrid fungus that were not detected by previous tests. The novel assay also works for other better-known strains from other parts of the world, such as the one present in Panama.

Journal

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

Funder

University Grants Commission, Central Zoo Authority, Australian Academy of Science, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India, Peter Schweinsberg, Rutgers University

23-May-2023

Leishmania parasite manipulates organism’s defense system to continue replicating, study shows

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

The findings of the study reported in the article offer hope for the development of novel treatments for the disease. Some 30,000 new cases of leishmaniasis are notified annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), many of them in Brazil, and there are no specific medications or vaccines to combat the disease.

Journal

Nature Communications

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

22-May-2023

Study points out errors in illustrations of one of the most famous scientific experiments

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

Described by Benjamin Franklin in the mid-eighteenth century, the kite experiment was an important step toward our modern understanding of electricity, but the pictures that popularized this episode are full of inaccuracies.

Journal

Science & Education

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

19-May-2023

How good is the data for tracking countries' agricultural greenhouse gas emissions?

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

Limited accuracy and transparency of national greenhouse gas emission inventories are curbing climate action, especially in the agriculture and land use sector.

Journal

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

18-May-2023

Study reveals novel action mechanism of corticosteroids in combating inflammation caused by COVID-19

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

Brazilian researchers observed an increase in production of endocannabinoid, a natural anti-inflammatory neurotransmitter, in COVID-19 patients given glucocorticoids. The discovery points to possibilities of novel treatments for various inflammatory and neurological diseases.

Journal

Viruses

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

17-May-2023

Sustainable agriculture is building peace in Colombia

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

In areas of Colombia once controlled by guerillas, conflicts over land continue and deforestation has risen considerably. But it’s in these same areas that researchers have found that farmers implementing sustainable land use systems, like agroforestry driven by cocoa (one of the key ingredients of chocolate), has contributed to reducing conflicts.

Journal

PLOS Climate

17-May-2023

Brazilian researchers test technique that can make analysis of male fertility potential more accurate

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

Scientists at São Paulo State University repurposed a device already used to analyze bovine reproductive cells to observe different characteristics of human sperm simultaneously.

Journal

Reproductive Toxicology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

16-May-2023

Temperature of solar flares helps understand nature of solar plasma

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

A new study simulated dozens of solar flares and showed that analysis of the Lyman Continuum spectrum formed by hydrogen ionization and recombination can be used for diagnosis of the solar plasma.

Journal

The Astrophysical Journal

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

15-May-2023

Researchers find compound that combats multidrug-resistant bacteria in less than one hour

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

In vitro experiments were conducted at a FAPESP-supported research center with a synthetic peptide inspired by molecules secreted by the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum.The compound is a new peptide with a molecular framework designed to enhance its antimicrobial activity and with low toxicity.

Journal

Antibiotics

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

10-May-2023

Study proves efficacy of remote physical training in rehabilitation of severe COVID patients

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

A program developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo included three weekly sessions of up to 80 minutes each for 16 weeks, with positive effects on cardiorespiratory fitness, lung function, functional capacity, body composition and persistent symptoms.

Journal

British Journal of Sports Medicine

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo