Month: April 2013

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An alpaca biotechnology center in Peru, combating Chagas disease in Latin America, and the effects of intensive agriculture in Brazil.

ARGENTINA The Pan American Health Organization has approved a drug manufactured in Argentina against the parasitic disease Chagas. Benznidazol will be produced by two private laboratories with additional government funding. It’s the first line of treatment for Chagas disease and cures 80-90% of cases, according to the WHO. Argentina’s Leloir Institute recently discovered an enzyme, … Continue reading An alpaca biotechnology center in Peru, combating Chagas disease in Latin America, and the effects of intensive agriculture in Brazil.

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Endangered deer have rebounded in Patagonia, Chevron allowed to resume drilling offshore Brazil, and new research says Patagonia was a separate continent.

ARGENTINA More than 320 million years ago, Patagonia was a separate continent that collided into Gondwana at the same time as Chilenia—present day Chile, according to scientists from the University of Buenos Aires. After conducting field tests in paleomagnetism, the researchers concluded that the deformations found along the southwestern margin of the Gondwana continent were … Continue reading Endangered deer have rebounded in Patagonia, Chevron allowed to resume drilling offshore Brazil, and new research says Patagonia was a separate continent.

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Rare hermit crab species found in the Caribbean, obesity growing in Latin America, and Amazon indigenous groups threaten war in Brazil.

ARGENTINA A group of scientists from Argentina and the United States conducted GPS measurements to determine the new height of Mt. Aconcagua as 6960.8 meters above sea level. This research is part of an international study of the Central Andes whose main objective is to measure changes in the Earth’s crust. Certain lipids present in … Continue reading Rare hermit crab species found in the Caribbean, obesity growing in Latin America, and Amazon indigenous groups threaten war in Brazil.

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Harvard accused of illegal logging in Chile, climate change affecting Patagonian lakes, and fishermen practicing citizen science in the Galapagos.

ARGENTINA Climate change is affecting species in Patagonian lakes, according to a new study published in the journal Global Change Biology. Over two years, the researchers looked at how glacial meltwater induced a shift in nutrients for Boeckella gracilipes and Daphnia commutata living in Lake Mascardi near Bariloche, Argentina. Manure generated from livestock feedlots could … Continue reading Harvard accused of illegal logging in Chile, climate change affecting Patagonian lakes, and fishermen practicing citizen science in the Galapagos.