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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-Aug-2025 08:11 ET (5-Aug-2025 12:11 GMT/UTC)

A comparison of colorful hamlets from the Caribbean challenges ideas about how species arise

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have been thinking about how new species evolve since Darwin wrote On The Origin of Species in 1859. The results presented here call into question some of the most common explanations of how species originate

Journal: Science Advances

Study identifies genes that can predict response to immunotherapy in melanoma patients

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

Brazilian researchers develop precision tool that can predict immunotherapy treatment failure, with the potential to personalize therapies and reduce healthcare costs.

Journal: Journal of Molecular Medicine
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Study proposes a new window for dark matter research

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

Model considers two DM particles, one stable and one unstable, as well as a vector mediator similar to the photon but with mass, which would promote interaction with ordinary matter particles.

Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Registrations open for São Paulo School of Advanced Science in Systems Change and Sustainability

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

The school will integrate multiple forms of knowledge in order to advance towards the systemic changes required for the construction of more equitable and resilient societies. Applicants may submit until August 15.

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

New examination of fish considered a ‘living fossil’ changes our understanding of vertebrate skull evolution

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

Researchers reanalyzed the skull musculature of coelacanths, a group of fish that has existed for 400 million years, and concluded that many structures had been incorrectly described. The study was published in Science Advances by researchers from the University of São Paulo and the Smithsonian Institution.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Studies confirm influence of country of origin on trust in COVID-19 vaccines

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

During the pandemic, a preference for domestic vaccines or those from countries such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom was observed for the first time. This phenomenon, known in marketing as the country of origin effect, is usually associated with products that require consumer research before purchase or that have a long tradition in certain countries, such as Swiss chocolates. However, it had never been linked to free vaccines.

Journal: Management Review Quarterly
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Loss of natural areas and introduction of exotic species reduces fishing yields in the Paraná River in Brazil

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

An analysis of data collected over 20 years in the upper stretch of the river shows a 50% loss in economic gains from fishing. Native fish have become smaller and smaller. Conversely, invasive species, which have a lower market value, are becoming more abundant. The phenomenon has been accompanied by a loss of vegetation cover on the riverbanks.

Journal: Nature Ecology & Evolution
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Study on “blue economy” shows interdependence between Brazil’s coastal and inland regions

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

Economic activities that depend directly on marine resources account for 2.91% of gross domestic product and 1.07% of employment. However, when the indirect effects of their linkages with other sectors are considered, the impact increases to 4.45% of employment and 6.39% of the country’s GDP.

Journal: npj Ocean Sustainability
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Amazon degradation increases by 163% in two years, while deforestation falls by 54% in the same period

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

“Negative balance” of biome protection recorded between 2022 and 2024 could jeopardize Brazil’s international goals, warn Brazilian researchers and their international collaborators in the journal Global Change Biology.

Journal: Global Change Biology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Cassava witches’ broom disease takes flight in South America

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

Cassava witches’ broom disease is quickly spreading across Northeastern South America, threatening a critical food staple for millions of people in Brazil and the continent.

Alliance researchers and partners, including Embrapa, Brazil’s largest agricultural research organization, launched a rapid response plan to slow the spread and mitigate potentially devastating consequences for food security and livelihoods.

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