News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-Jun-2025 10:09 ET (5-Jun-2025 14:09 GMT/UTC)

5-Jul-2022

Experts warn about the need for seeking novel treatments for parasitic worm diseases

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

Advanced drug discovery methods have led to advances in the search for treatments for some neglected tropical diseases, including leishmaniasis and Chagas, but research on schistosomiasis and other diseases caused by worms remains at an early stage, according to an article in Drug Discovery Today by Brazilian researchers

Journal

Drug Discovery Today

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

1-Jul-2022

What are whale sharks up to?

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Satellite-tracking of the largest fish in the ocean offered insight into their migratory and feeding behavior, but their breeding grounds are still a mystery.

Journal

Frontiers in Marine Science

Funder

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Mar Viva Foundation, International Community Foundation, Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Panamá (SENACYT)

28-Jun-2022

How the pandemic and social distancing have changed our perception of time

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

Brazilian researchers surveyed 900 volunteers via an online platform for five months. Most reported feeling that time passed more slowly during home confinement in the early months of the pandemic, associating this perception with feelings of loneliness and a lack of positive experiences in the period.

Journal

Science Advances

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

24-Jun-2022

Novel sewage treatment system removes up to 70% of nitrogen that would otherwise be discarded into nature

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

Brazilian researchers have designed a new low-cost anaerobic reactor that uses a bacterial biofilm on a sheet of polyurethane foam. The goal is to enable more wastewater treatment plants in Brazil to achieve nitrogen removal and reduce water body contamination.

Journal

Environmental Technology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

23-Jun-2022

Scientists use human breast milk to treat prolonged COVID-19 in a severely immunodeficient patient

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

The female patient had a genetic disease that dysregulates the immune system, impairing its inflammatory response and antibody production. The virus was eliminated after week-long ingestion of breast milk donated by a woman who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The case is reported in the journal Viruses by researchers at the University of Campinas in Brazil.

Journal

Viruses

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

22-Jun-2022

Physical exercise boosts beneficial cardiovascular effects of losartan in men with high blood pressure

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

The finding comes from a clinical trial by researchers at the University of São Paulo who recruited 32 male volunteers and have now published the results in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension.

Journal

Clinical and Experimental Hypertension

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

21-Jun-2022

Foodomics: Exploring the biomolecules that will help us get to know our food

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

Researchers are starting to explore the tens of thousands of biomolecules in the foods we eat every day, with the goal of using “foodomics” as a data-driven approach to revolutionize nutrition and sustainable diets, according to a recent paper from Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT researchers and their international collaborators.

Journal

Frontiers in Nutrition

20-Jun-2022

Pesticide in widespread use in Brazil poses a grave threat to native bee species, study shows

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

Imidacloprid is a neonictinoid, a class of neuroactive insecticides absorbed by plants and present in pollen and nectar, making them toxic to bees and other pollinators.

Journal

Environmental Research

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

20-Jun-2022

Low-cost 3D model is expected to accelerate research on neurological effects of COVID-19

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

The results of the research are reported in an article published in the journal Advanced Biology. The group expects them to accelerate and reduce the cost of future studies on the effects of COVID-19 on the central nervous system.

Journal

Advanced Biology

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

15-Jun-2022

Co-existing mangrove-coral habitats have a new global classification system

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By coexisting more closely with mangroves, tropical coral species may have found an alternative habitat where they can thrive in the face of climate change

Journal

PLOS One