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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jul-2025 21:11 ET (22-Jul-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

Advances in techniques used to identify sharks and rays have not prevented trade and increase in extinction risk

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

An analysis of scientific papers published in a 15-year period on molecular methods to identify elasmobranch species shows that better detection of illegal trade has not enhanced protection.

Journal: Biological Conservation
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Use of WhatsApp messages by public health service to treat depression in older people produces results, study shows

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

With simple audio messages and images, the Viva Vida program produced significant improvements in over-sixties living in a major city in metropolitan São Paulo (Brazil). An article on the study is published in Nature Medicine.

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

Monitoring shows chikungunya epidemics can be predicted by means of surveillance

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

A study conducted in a medium-sized city in São Paulo state (Brazil) found that chikungunya, which has caused major epidemics in several countries, can also circulate silently in a community, with few infections for years. The researchers produced a new profile of this arbovirus, underscoring the importance of disease surveillance to predict and prepare efficiently for epidemics.

Journal: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Pesticides impair mobility and immune system of Brazilian native stingless bees, study shows

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

After 48 hours of exposure to the pesticides imidacloprid, pyraclostrobin and glyphosate, stingless bees of the species Melipona scutellaris exhibited morphological and behavioral alterations that could weaken colonies, impair pollination and adversely affect food security.

Journal: Environmental Pollution
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

The World Cultural Council (WCC) is pleased to announce the names of the 2024 Awards

Consejo Cultural Mundial
Grant and Award Announcement

Professor Eske Willerslev, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Copenhagen and Prince Philip Professor at the University of Cambridge, has been selected as the winner of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science 2024. Cónal Creedon an award-winning novelist, short-story writer, playwright, documentary film maker, essayist, and collaborative artist has been awarded the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts 2024.

Scientists in Brazil and India collaborate on research to create promising treatment for solid tumors

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

In tests involving animals, nanoparticles containing substances already approved for human use reduced inflammation in the biological microenvironment where malignant tumors flourish and facilitated the action of the immune system.

Journal: Journal of Controlled Release
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Researchers discover neural circuit involved in compulsive eating even without hunger

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

In a study involving mice, scientists used a technique that combines light stimulation and bioengineering to activate a cluster of nerve cells deep inside the brain. The discovery could pave the way to future treatment of eating disorders.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Virus that causes COVID-19 can remain in sperm for 110 days after infection

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

Researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 in male reproductive cells under the microscope even when PCR testing failed to detect the virus in semen. The discovery serves as a warning of possible implications for natural conception and particularly for assisted reproduction.

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

Centering relationships between people and place: A critical step towards improving science's contributions to society

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Marine conservation scientists advocate for a cultural shift in academia that fosters deeper connections with places of study and encourages collaboration with local communities to make science more relevant, equitable and meaningful.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Research optimizes biological control of pest that severely damages soybean crops

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

Scientists at São Paulo State University (UNESP) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) verified in the field that a parasitoid wasp that neutralizes the Brown stink bug should ideally be released at intervals of 30 m.

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

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