News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-May-2025 22:09 ET (7-May-2025 02:09 GMT/UTC)

29-Mar-2022

Better breeding tools for future-proofing potatoes

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

Thanks to a collaboration between researchers across the world, including the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, potato breeders will now have a much better toolkit to develop new varieties best suited to their needs in a changing climate.

Journal

Food and Energy Security

25-Mar-2022

The mystery of an unusual Panamanian plant’s dispersal

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Camera traps in the forest canopy document a nocturnal mammal that may be helping Zamia pseudoparasitica survive up in the air

Journal

Ecology and Evolution

Funder

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt), David and Lucile Packard Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation

24-Mar-2022

Deforestation impacts go far beyond carbon

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

Deforestation in the tropics is an even more important factor in the climate cycle than previously thought —including changes in the circulation of heat and water— according to a new study from a team including researchers at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

Journal

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

24-Mar-2022

The expanded Cordillera de Coiba Marine Protected Area in Panama has a new management plan

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Business Announcement

The marine biologist and conservationist of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution, Héctor Guzmán, worked on the development of a new management plan that was recently approved by Panama's Ministry of the Environment

Funder

Wyss Foundation, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

24-Mar-2022

Brazilian dataset of whole-genome sequences brings more diversity in international databases, study says

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

Whole-genome sequences of 1,171 elderly people living in São Paulo City were analyzed to detect mutations responsible for disease or that play a key role in healthy aging.

Journal

Nature Communications

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

23-Mar-2022

A model that mimics malformation associated with severe epilepsy paves way to novel therapies

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

Scientists at a FAPESP-funded research center reprogrammed skin cells from patients with epilepsy to differentiate into cortical organoids with hallmarks of the malformation known as focal cortical dysplasia.

Journal

Brain

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

22-Mar-2022

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as booster magnifies antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 by a factor of 25

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

Brazilian researchers measured this increase in immunity in a study involving health workers who had received two doses of CoronaVac. In subjects given the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the same booster raised immunity by a factor of 7.

Journal

Journal of Infection

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

15-Mar-2022

Even mild or moderate COVID-19 can affect the cardiovascular system in young adults, study shows

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

Researchers at São Paulo State University followed young men and women aged 20-40 without pre-existing disease. The findings show that obesity and physical inactivity increase the impact of the disease on the autonomic nervous system, which regulates blood pressure, heart rate and breathing, among other functions.

Journal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

10-Mar-2022

Study proposes to involve high school students in mapping natural disaster hazards and impact prevention

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

Brazilian scientists tested a participatory disaster risk monitoring strategy in a town that was partially destroyed in 2010 after an unprecedented flood. The methodology can be applied in other parts of the country.

Journal

Disaster Prevention and Management An International Journal

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

9-Mar-2022

Edible, biodegradable, anti-microbial plastic boasts higher tensile strength than petroleum-based plastic

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

Designed for use as food packaging, the material is produced by scientists at São Paulo State University from gelatin, clay and a nanoemulsion of black pepper essential oil.

Journal

Polymers

Funder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo