News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Aug-2025 10:11 ET (18-Aug-2025 14:11 GMT/UTC)

20-Jan-2020

Want to know what climate change will do in your back yard? There's a dataset for that

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

The 7-terabyte dataset, the largest of its kind, helps envision climate-change scenarios at scales as small as 1 kilometer. A new review validates and describes the dataset.

Journal

Scientific Data

15-Jan-2020

Study contests use of smoked cannabis in treatment of cocaine addiction

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

Researchers in Brazil evaluated cocaine and crack addicts undergoing rehabilitation for six months and observed a higher relapse rate and worse cognitive impairment among patients who smoked cannabis to try to mitigate their craving for cocaine.

Journal

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Funder

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

10-Jan-2020

Trace Metals in Leatherback Turtle Eggs May Harm Consumers

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Leatherback turtle eggs in the Panamanian Caribbean may be harmful to the health of consumers, due to the concentrations of trace metals found in them. Increasing awareness among local doctors, health workers and the public about these risks may be beneficial for the conservation of this endangered species.

Journal

Chemosphere

Funder

Tecnología e Innovación de Panamá., Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Gas Natural Fenosa Panama (now Naturgy Panama), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

8-Jan-2020

Brazilian scientists unveil chemotherapy resistance mechanism related to p53 mutation

Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem (INBEB)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Brazilian study uncovered an anticancer chemotherapy resistance mechanism related to amyloid aggregation of mutant p53. The research was conducted in cells derived from glioblastoma, a super aggressive brain tumor, and in living cells. The results open up new opportunities for the development of more effective therapies against cancer.

Journal

iScience

6-Jan-2020

Jaguars could prevent a not-so-great American biotic exchange

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In eastern Panama, canid species from North and South America are occurring together for the first time. Urban and agricultural development and deforestation along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor might be generating a new passageway for these invasive species adapted to human disturbance.

Journal

Journal of Mammalogy

Funder

Sistema de Producción Sostenible para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad-Ministerio de Ambiente, North Carolina State University

19-Dec-2019

Asteroid collisions trigger cascading formation of subfamilies, study concludes

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

Scientists have always thought about fission clusters as entirely distinct from collisional families. Now a study conducted by researchers affiliated with UNESP has shown that fission clusters may originate from collisional families in some cases.

Journal

Nature Astronomy

Funder

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

17-Dec-2019

Researchers create functional mini-liver by 3D bioprinting

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

Technique developed at Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, funded by FAPESP and hosted by the University of São Paulo, produced hepatic tissue in the laboratory in only 90 days and could become an alternative to organ transplantation in future.

Journal

Biofabrication

Funder

São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

17-Dec-2019

Novel genetic signature that can predict some kinds of breast cancer is identified

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

The research, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, combined a study of the genes involved in retinopathy, as a model of angiogenesis, with analysis of transcriptomic gene expression profiles from public breast cancer databases.

Journal

PLOS Genetics

Funder

São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP

16-Dec-2019

Leafcutter ants accelerate the cutting and transport of leaves during stormy weather

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

A study by researchers at the University of São Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) in Brazil shows that leafcutter ants are capable of predicting adverse weather by sensing changes in atmospheric pressure.

Journal

Ethology

Funder

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

16-Dec-2019

The sympathetic nervous system can inhibit the defense cells in autoimmune disease

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

Using an experimental model of multiple sclerosis, the scientists found that the sympathetic nervous system can limit the generation of effector responses by inhibiting the action of the cells that attack an antigen taken as a threat by the immune system.

Journal

Cell Reports

Funder

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