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A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a report published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 24, 2025. The hell ant, which was preserved in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae—an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialized, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey. The open-access [...]

Researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) used concepts of condensed matter physics to describe phase separation. Their findings can have applications in the treatment of diseases. In physics, a system composed of two substances can be modeled in accordance with classical mixture theory, which considers the fraction corresponding to each constituent and the interactions among constituents. Examples include the coexistence of high- and low-density phases in supercooled water, [...]

Smithsonian scientists assembled and analyzed sprawling genetic database, finding some fungal crops later became completely reliant on ants 27 million years ago   When humans began farming crops thousands of years ago, agriculture had already been around for millions of years. In fact, several animal lineages have been growing their own food since long before humans evolved as a species. According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 [...]

Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil analyzed data from 115 children who suffered from conditions considered syndromic (with several associated symptoms) and found a high incidence of overlapping genetic alterations. In an article published November 21, 2023 in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers based in Brazil describe the case of a nine-year-old boy admitted to hospital with multiple symptoms and overlapping conditions that made diagnosis [...]

Researchers describe the genome of Bothrops jararaca and suggest the origin of genes responsible for toxins in its venom. A group led by researchers at Butantan Institute and funded by São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP has completed the first sequencing of a Brazilian snake's genome. The study is reported in an article published in the journalPNAS. It suggests that the nine genes that encode toxins produced by the jararaca pit viper Bothrops jararaca probably originated in [...]

There is growing evidence that adipose tissue plays a key role in the aggravation of COVID-19. One of the theories under investigation is that fat cells (adipocytes) act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and increase viral load in obese or overweight individuals. Scientists also suspect that during infection fat cells release into the bloodstream substances that boost the inflammatory reaction triggered by the virus in the organism. These hypotheses are being investigated by researchers at the [...]

Crotoxin, extracted from the venom of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus, has been studied for almost a century for its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities and as an even more powerful muscle paralyzer than botulinum toxin. However, the toxicity of crotoxin limits its medicinal use. A new study, published online on November 20, 2019, by Brazilian researchers in the journal Toxins, shows that crotoxin's therapeutic effects can be enhanced and its [...]

Computational tools applied to biology are revolutionizing the study of what happens inside cells during an infection, helping scientists to understand disease mechanisms and contributing to the identification of potential therapeutic targets. An example is a study published online on June 18, 2019 in PLOS Pathogens describing how Brazilian researchers analyzed blood cells from patients infected with chikungunya virus (image). With the aid of techniques such as complex network analysis, [...]

Computational tools applied to biology are revolutionizing the study of what happens inside cells during an infection, helping scientists to understand disease mechanisms and contributing to the identification of potential therapeutic targets. An example is a study published online on June 18, 2019 in PLOS Pathogens describing how Brazilian researchers analyzed blood cells from patients infected with chikungunya virus (image). With the aid of techniques such as complex network analysis, [...]