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Brazil has more than 286,000 community health workers integrated into the national primary healthcare program. These professionals form a broad network serving 75% of the population, especially low-income families who lack medical insurance and are the most adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Back in March, researchers at Imperial College London noted Brazil’s network of community health workers as a valuable asset that could assure an effective response to the pandemic. [...]

A study published in Science on October 2 suggests that prioritizing aquatic environments in conservation programs for the Amazon region can be up to six times more efficient than focusing on the protection of terrestrial species, as is usual. The conclusion is based on simulations using georeferenced field data on species diversity, weather and topography, among other things. The simulations enabled the researchers to identify the most important areas for the conservation of each group of [...]

A group led by researchers at Butantan Institute in Brazil and supported by FAPESP has described for the first time the presence of venom glands in the mouth of an amphibian. The legless animal is a caecilian and lives underground. It has tooth-related glands that, when compressed during biting, release a secretion into its prey - earthworms, insect larvae, small amphibians and snakes, and even rodent pups. A paper reporting the study is published in iScience. "We were analyzing the mucus [...]

Results of recent studies involving valproic acid, used for decades as an anti-convulsant drug, show that it can interact with the conformation of DNA and regulate gene expression. These are some of the key findings from a project led by biologist Maria Luiza S. Mello at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the state São Paulo, Brazil, with the collaboration of Benedicto de Campos Vidal, Emeritus Professor in the Biology Institute’s Department of Structural and Functional [...]

A new field of research in microbiology is transforming the way scientists see fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms. Microbiome research is so promising that it has drawn attention from funders and industry as well as scientists. In the United States alone, the market for microbiome-based agricultural products is expected to be worth more than $10 billion by 2025. Research on the human microbiome has surpassed $1.7 billion in the past decade. Scientific study of microbiomes is growing [...]

To understand how climate change may affect different ecosystems, 27 researchers from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana and Puerto Rico, among other countries, conducted experiments in seven different locations involving the aquatic environment in the tank (centrally-located water-holding cup) of bromeliads, a habitat for insect larvae and other small organisms. They discovered that, in contrast with what might be thought, the smallest organisms at the bottom of the food [...]

A study conducted by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) suggests that irisin, a hormone secreted from muscles in response to exercise, could have a therapeutic effect on COVID-19 patients. When they analyzed adipose cell gene expression, the researchers found that irisin modulated genes associated with replication of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in human cells. This finding was based on analysis of the transcriptome (all RNAs produced by genes) of adipose cells not [...]

Projections based on climate models for the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (about 3 million years ago) suggest that countries in the tropical and subtropical southern hemisphere, including Brazil, may face longer droughts in the future. Annual rainfall may decrease as much as 30% compared with current levels. One of the main variables considered in this scenario is a rise of 3 °C in the global average temperature, which may happen between 2050 and the end of the century unless the effects of [...]

The typical measures of the efficacy of a country’s response to COVID-19 are the contagion curve and the number of deaths from the disease. Indeed, the frequently expressed aim of “flattening the curve” refers to a perceived need to slow the rate of transmission so that healthcare systems are not overwhelmed. An international group of researchers have set out to go beyond these indicators by discussing how and why the strategies implemented by countries to deal with the [...]