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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Jun-2025 16:10 ET (20-Jun-2025 20:10 GMT/UTC)

Bioluminescent substance discovered in Brazilian cave worm larva

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

Identification of the first luciferin-producing insect belonging to the order Diptera in the Neotropics paves the way for researchers to investigate other biochemical functions of the molecule in these organisms.

Journal: Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences
Funder: São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Brazil). Geochronologic research at the MIT Isotope Lab

Genes that could lead to improvement of beef cattle are identified

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

Researchers identify 35 genes associated with reproduction, milk composition, growth, meat and carcass, health or body conformation traits in Gir cattle.

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

Discovery of Zika virus in monkeys suggests disease may also have wild cycle

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

Sylvatic cycle would give virus a natural reservoir from which it could more frequently reinfect humans. Study on subject has been published by Brazilian researchers in Scientific Reports.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

Cappuccino made with jackfruit seed flour has chocolate aroma

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

A study conducted in Brazil shows that flour made from roasted jackfruit seeds can replace cocoa powder in a mixture of milk and coffee used to make cappuccino.

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

New Bat Behavior Discovered

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Reports and Proceedings

Researchers observe novel bat behavior in Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

According to a new report from researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) who studied Peters' tent-making bats (Uroderma bilobatum), mothers prod their young with their forearms, perhaps encouraging them to fledge and wean.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Clemson University, Fulbright Scholar Program, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Chemotherapy drug paclitaxel also acts as an immune response modulator

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

By finding that the cancer drug also activates a key cellular receptor in the innate immune system, a study at the Center for Research in Inflammatory Diseases (CRID), in Brazil, may lead to new treatment strategies.

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

Colored filter improves dyslexic children's reading speed

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

Volunteers aged 9-10 with dyslexia took less time to read passages from children's books, possibly thanks to attenuated excitability of the cerebral cortex.

Journal: Research in Developmental Disabilities
Funder: Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

Food transports Syrian refugees' imaginations to a place that no longer exists

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

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo in Brazil used cuisine as a starting point for an analysis of the difficulties faced by Syrian refugees in the city.

Journal: Appetite
Funder: São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

Physical exercise improves the elimination of toxic proteins from muscles

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

A study by Brazilian researchers could contribute to the development of alternatives to treat muscle weakness and atrophy. An article in Scientific Reports describes how rats subjected to an aerobic exercise routine preserved their muscle's contractility properties and their autophagic system's memory even after having a sciatic nerve injury induced.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP