News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 04:16 ET (28-Oct-2026 08:16 GMT/UTC)

25-Jun-2010

 

Tropical biodiversity is about the neighbors

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rare plant species are much more negatively affected by the presence of their own species as neighbors than are common species. This may explain how biodiversity arises and is maintained.

Funder

HSBC Climate Partnership, National Science Foundation, Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

3-Jun-2010

   

Inducing a safety memory in the brain

University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine have found a way to pharmacologically induce a memory of safety in the brain of rats. Administering brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into the prefrontal cortex prevented rats from expressing fear to a tone that had been previously paired with a shock. Rats given BDNF acted as if they had received repeated presentations of the tone without the shock, a procedure called extinction.

Journal

Science

1-Jun-2010

A prognostic and predictive biomarker for nonsmall cell lung cancer

Publicase International
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers in Brazil found a protein that can be used to indicate which patients in the early stages of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a good prognosis and which do not. High levels of this protein correlate with resistance to certain anticancer drugs, especially cisplatin and carboplatin. This new finding may help doctors decide on the best course of action for each NSCLC patient, which may greatly impact survival rates.

Journal

Cancer

26-May-2010

   

First radio tracking of tropical orchid bees

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute track unique signals from tiny transmitters glued to individual orchid bees, yielding new insight into the role of bees in tropical forest ecosystems.

Journal

PLOS Biology

Funder

New York State Museum, National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, US Environmental Protection Agency

26-May-2010

 

2 new frog species discovered in Panama's fungal war zone

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

While trying to understand a disease that is wiping out frogs worldwide, researchers discovered a new frog species.

Funder

Idea Wild, Bay and Paul Foundations, Sigma Xia, American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology Gaige Fund, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution

17-May-2010

 

Extinct giant shark nursery discovered in Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Young giant sharks, now extinct, may have grown up in shallow water nurseries, according to new findings from Panama's Gatun Formation.

Journal

PLOS One

Funder

National Science Foundation

19-Apr-2010

 

A howling success: The 5th howler monkey census on Barro Colorado Island

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The fifth Howler Monkey census at the Smithsonian's Barro Colorado Island research station in Panama, organized by Katie Milton, University of California, Berkeley, revealed that monkey numbers have not changed significantly since the first census 33 years ago.

6-Apr-2010

 

Sand fly barcoding in Panama reveals Leishmania strain and its potential control

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the first barcoding survey of sand flies in Panama, scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Gorgas Memorial Laboratories identified 20 sand fly species from Barro Colorado Island. Two species carried Leishmania naiffi, a parasite that causes cutaneous leishmaniasis. Three species carried Wolbachia, a bacterial parasite of insects that could contribute to a strategy to control the flies and limit disease transmission.

Journal

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Funder

Panama's Fundación Gabriel Lewis Galindo, National Science Foundation

6-Apr-2010

 

New thick-shelled turtle species lived with world's biggest snake

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The discovery of a new fossil turtle species in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the Florida Museum of Natural History helps to explain the origin of one of the most biodiverse groups of turtles in South America.

Journal

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

Funder

Smithsonian Paleobiology Endowment Fund, Florida Museum of Natural History, Miss Lucy Dickinson Fellowship, Carbones del Cerrejon LLC, Fondo para la Investigacion de Ciencia y Technologia Banco de la Republica de Colombia, National Science Foundation

5-Apr-2010

 

Eating like a bird helps forests grow

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Lions, tigers and bears top the ecological pyramid -- the diagram of the food chain that every school child knows. A new study examines complex interactions in the middle of the pyramid, where birds, bats and lizards consume insects. These predators indirectly benefit plants, Smithsonian scientists report.

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences