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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 17-Jun-2025 19:10 ET (17-Jun-2025 23:10 GMT/UTC)

Scientific evidence found for role of stress in hair whitening

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

Want to know what climate change will do in your back yard? There's a dataset for that

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

The 7-terabyte dataset, the largest of its kind, helps envision climate-change scenarios at scales as small as 1 kilometer. A new review validates and describes the dataset.

Journal: Scientific Data

Zika inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer cells

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

Experiments performed by Brazilian scientists showed that Zika virus inhibits tumor cell proliferation even when inactivated by high temperature. The study was supported by FAPESP and published in Scientific Reports.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Study contests use of smoked cannabis in treatment of cocaine addiction

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

Researchers in Brazil evaluated cocaine and crack addicts undergoing rehabilitation for six months and observed a higher relapse rate and worse cognitive impairment among patients who smoked cannabis to try to mitigate their craving for cocaine.

Journal: Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Trace Metals in Leatherback Turtle Eggs May Harm Consumers

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Leatherback turtle eggs in the Panamanian Caribbean may be harmful to the health of consumers, due to the concentrations of trace metals found in them. Increasing awareness among local doctors, health workers and the public about these risks may be beneficial for the conservation of this endangered species.

Journal: Chemosphere
Funder: Tecnología e Innovación de Panamá., Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Gas Natural Fenosa Panama (now Naturgy Panama), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Brazilian scientists unveil chemotherapy resistance mechanism related to p53 mutation

Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (INBEB)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Brazilian study uncovered an anticancer chemotherapy resistance mechanism related to amyloid aggregation of mutant p53. The research was conducted in cells derived from glioblastoma, a super aggressive brain tumor, and in living cells. The results open up new opportunities for the development of more effective therapies against cancer.

Journal: iScience

Jaguars could prevent a not-so-great American biotic exchange

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In eastern Panama, canid species from North and South America are occurring together for the first time. Urban and agricultural development and deforestation along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor might be generating a new passageway for these invasive species adapted to human disturbance.

Journal: Journal of Mammalogy
Funder: Sistema de Producción Sostenible para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad-Ministerio de Ambiente, North Carolina State University

Asteroid collisions trigger cascading formation of subfamilies, study concludes

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

Scientists have always thought about fission clusters as entirely distinct from collisional families. Now a study conducted by researchers affiliated with UNESP has shown that fission clusters may originate from collisional families in some cases.

Journal: Nature Astronomy
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Researchers create functional mini-liver by 3D bioprinting

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

Technique developed at Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, funded by FAPESP and hosted by the University of São Paulo, produced hepatic tissue in the laboratory in only 90 days and could become an alternative to organ transplantation in future.

Journal: Biofabrication
Funder: São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

Novel genetic signature that can predict some kinds of breast cancer is identified

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

The research, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, combined a study of the genes involved in retinopathy, as a model of angiogenesis, with analysis of transcriptomic gene expression profiles from public breast cancer databases.

Journal: PLOS Genetics
Funder: São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP