News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Dec-2025 17:11 ET (20-Dec-2025 22:11 GMT/UTC)

30-Mar-2023

Cacao lovers rejoice: Cacao of Excellence R&D Laboratory and Training Centre unveiled

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Business Announcement

Cacao of Excellence is proud to unveil its new state-of-the-art cacao R&D laboratory and training centre. Located in Rome, the facility will be dedicated to exploring the depths of cacao quality and sensory analysis and revealing the diversity of cacao flavour profiles, accommodating the processing and evaluation of cacao samples received from over 55 participating origins.

29-Mar-2023

How to climate-proof the Ethiopian breadbasket? Combine genomics and farmer knowledge

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

Durum wheat is an important staple crop and part of Ethiopia’s cultural heritage. Its genetic diversity also holds clues for climate smart agriculture, according to a collaboration between researchers and farmer citizen scientists.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

29-Mar-2023

Study elucidates at cellular level how regular exercise preserves physical fitness during aging

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

Experiments involving nematode worms conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo showed that the benefits of physical activity to muscles are directly linked to processes occurring in mitochondria, the organelles that make energy for cells. Their findings offer possible routes for drug development.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

28-Mar-2023

Technology to protect bioactive compounds from food during digestion

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

Scientists at a FAPESP-supported research center combined substances extracted from fruit residues and egg white to package nanoparticles of anthocyanin, a plant pigment with antioxidant action. This nanoencapsulation prevents breakdown of the molecule and lets a larger amount reach the gut, where it is absorbed.

Journal

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

27-Mar-2023

Study paves way to more efficient production of 2G ethanol using specially modified yeast strain

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

Brazilian researchers identified the genes that make the industrial yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae SA-1 resistant to fermentation inhibitors generated during sugarcane bagasse preprocessing. The discovery will be useful as a basis for metabolic engineering of the microorganism.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

27-Mar-2023

Home gardens are key to better lives for vulnerable tribes in India

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

The forested hills and rolling fields in the state of Odisha are home to some of India’s most vulnerable tribal groups, but a growing number of studies show that small home gardens — producing millet, pulses, fresh fruits and vegetables — could be key in the fight against the food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty found there.

Journal

Journal of Agricultural Economics

Funder

International Fund for Agricultural Development

23-Mar-2023

Post-bariatric surgery exercise modulates brain regions associated with regulation of food intake

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

Exercise after bariatric surgery appeared to modulate the medial hypothalamic nucleus involved in appetite suppression and increased energy expenditure.

Journal

International Journal of Obesity

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

22-Mar-2023

Brazilian researchers describe promising method to optimize and scale up production of fuel cell input

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

In response to growing interest in decarbonization routes, researchers have recently turned their attention to the use of ammonia in fuel cells – electrochemical or galvanic cells that generate electricity from specific chemical reactions, such as the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR).

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

20-Mar-2023

Emerging deforestation frontier in southwestern Amazon sees increase in burnings

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

Fire destroyed 4,141 km² of forest and 6,484 km² of pasture and cropland between 2003 and 2019 in the area of Boca do Acre, Amazonas state, North Brazil, according to a recently published report.

Journal

Fire

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

15-Mar-2023

News coverage highlights some threats to deer conservation but may mislead or omit key information

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

In an article on the study published in the journal Biological Conservation, the researchers conclude that news items located using the Google News search engine properly identified most threats to the eight deer species occurring in Brazil but ignored, underestimated or overestimated the threats to certain species.

Journal

Biological Conservation