News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Oct-2026 09:16 ET (27-Oct-2026 13:16 GMT/UTC)

19-Oct-2016

Caloric restriction can be beneficial to the brain, study shows

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

A 40 percent reduction in dietary caloric intake increases mitochondrial calcium retention in situations where intracellular calcium levels are pathologically high. In the brain, this can help avoid the death of neurons that is associated with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and stroke, among other neurodegenerative conditions.

Journal

Aging Cell

Funder

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

17-Oct-2016

Science spotlights research involving Brazil's Zika Virus Research Network

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

Research on the Zika virus Conducted by Brazilian and American scientists are highlighted in the Science, that draws attention to the fact that the results of trials showing that three different candidate vaccines Zika protected rhesus monkeys against the disease.

Journal

Science

Funder

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

14-Oct-2016

New library of human stem cells with the Brazilian genetic admixture

University of Sao Paulo Scientific Outreach Unit
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New human pluripotent stem cells lines increase the diversity of the available ones because are derived from individuals of the Brazilian population -- an admixture of European, African and Native American genomic ancestry. They can serve as an in vitro system for the identification of novel leads, for testing drug toxicity and for addressing the issue of differential drug response, a phenomenon greatly influenced by genetic factors.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

13-Oct-2016

 

Four CGIAR scientists awarded World Food Prize for combatting micronutrient deficiency

International Potato Center / Centro Internacional de la Papa
Grant and Award Announcement

Biofortification's ability to improve nutrition and health of vulnerable populations internationally recognized. 15 million people reached with biofortified varieties of staple crops, rich in vitamin A rich, iron and zinc. Children who consume orange-fleshed sweet potato in the first 1000 days of life suffer less from blindness as a result of vitamin A deficiency.

11-Oct-2016

Two Brazilian studies show new discoveries related to Zika virus

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

A Brazilian study shows that infection of a pregnant woman by Zika virus may represent a risk to the baby's neurological development even when it occurs only a few days before the mother gives birth. In another study, Brazilian researchers describe, for the first time, manifestations of Zika virus in patients previously receiving organ transplants.

Journal

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Funder

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

5-Oct-2016

Certain citrus species produce repellent against huanglongbing

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

A new strategy for combating the vector of the bacterium that causes huanglongbing, also known as greening, considered the most destructive citrus disease in the world can be developed from the discovery that three citrus plants produce an essential oil that repels the insect.

Journal

Molecules

4-Oct-2016

 

26 jaguars killed in Panama so far this year

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A combination of camera-trapping studies and interviews reveals that 26 jaguars have been killed this year in the tiny Republic of Panama. Panama connects North and South America and is an important bridge for wildlife and migrating birds.

Journal

Journal for Nature Conservation

Meeting

20th Congress of the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation

7-Sep-2016

 

Computer simulation reveals p53 weak spots and opens new avenues against cancer

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using microsecond timescale molecular dynamics simulations, a new study published in Scientific Reports reveals p53 weak spots and sheds light on the protein instability, which is linked to its tendency to aggregate and form amyloid structures.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support, Ministry Of Health, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, National Institute of Science and Technology for Structural Biology and Bioimaging

5-Sep-2016

Nitrogen emissions in Latin America should be monitored, experts insist

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

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations and Latin American countries are generally the main sources of reactive nitrogen emissions in the form of ammonia and nitrous oxide, among others, due to fossil fuel burning, the use of nitrogen fertilizer, and untreated sewage. The impact of these emissions on the environment, climate and health has not been monitored, however.

Funder

São Paulo Research Foundation

2-Sep-2016

 

Crop domestication is a balancing act

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The ancestors of leaf-cutter ants swapped a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a bucolic existence on small-scale subsistence farms. A new study at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama revealed that living relatives of the earliest fungus-farming ants still have not domesticated their crop, a challenge also faced by early human farmers.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Funder

Smithsonian Institution, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Danish National Research Foundation, Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship