Alexandra Ozorio de Almeida - Editor in Chief
Letter from the Editor | 335
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Medications needed
In the 1930s, pharmacologist Paulo Seabra from Rio de Janeiro developed a copper salt formulation (colloidal cupric morrhuate) that could be administered intravenously to treat tuberculosis. Sold under the brand name Gadusan, it was even exported to other countries. With the discovery of streptomycin — the first antibiotic effective against what was once known as... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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Constant vigilance
The Amazon has been in the public eye this century. As one of the most important remaining biodiversity reserves, its value for life on Earth is incalculable. The region also has an essential role in climate regulation, with an influence that extends far beyond the frontiers of this biome. Fears regarding the destruction of the... View Article
Letter from the editor | 334
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Keeping an eye on the forest
The importance of the Amazon has become increasingly evident in the twenty-first century. Firstly, for its biodiversity, which has incalculable value to life on Earth. Secondly, for its influence on climate dynamics, which we now know goes far beyond its own borders. Fears about ongoing destruction of the biome have sparked discussions about its occupation... View Article
Editorial
Chemical and symbolic elements
To “unsee” something is a term widely used on social media when a person wishes they had not seen something. This is the neologism that comes to mind when we are faced with images of grotesque “plastic rocks”: an involuntary human creation composed of minerals, polymers, and animal remains. The plastics contaminating our oceans and... View Article
Editorial
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Professors wanted
According to the high school students who signed up for USP’s Knowledge and Opportunities Competition, encouragement from teachers is an important source of recognition. The prizes included additional preparatory training for university entrance exams and for many students, the offer of a place in public higher education. Taxidermist Paulo César Balduíno, who has prepared thousands... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 331
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Heating up
July was the hottest month ever recorded since the world’s leading meteorological agencies began operating decades ago. The upward trend in global temperatures, first identified many years ago, has culminated in this new record, which will soon be broken again. A rise in the planet’s average temperature, even by as little as one decimal point,... View Article
Letter from the editor
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Food on the table
Brazil is known for its agricultural activity. The country’s harvests break record after record, with growing productivity, and Brazil is a world leader in exports of various commodities. However, there is another agricultural reality that is less attractive. The area planted with rice and beans, the basis of the national diet, decreased by more than... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 330
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Good questions
The Human Genome Project was a hot topic in science journalism at the turn of this century. Technological advances allowed an international consortium of 20 institutions to sequence and analyze the regions of human DNA that encode proteins — the project took 13 years of work and cost US$3 billion. To make the story even... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 329
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Resilience and mobilization
The press has reported widely on the imminent repatriation of an Ubirajara jubatus dinosaur fossil illegally removed from Northeast Brazil in 1995. In more recent years, UNESCO has been discussing the ethics of the cultural goods market, trying to reach a consensus on the sale of objects with historical value. In May, Brazil joined the... View Article
Letter from the Editor | 328
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Rice, beans, and ketchup
The vigor of Brazilian agriculture is deservedly hitting the headlines: record harvests, increasing productivity, and global leadership in exports of several commodities. Other data showing a less popular agricultural situation, however, do not receive the same attention. The total area used to grow rice and beans — the foundation of Brazil’s national diet — decreased... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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Independence and rights
Rape is one of the most violent and abject crimes we face. This type of aggression subjects the victim to a high level of stress that leaves psychological scars and can also cause physiological transformations. A team at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) that also offers outpatient care researched the impact of sexual... View Article
Letter from the editor | 327
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Weights and measures
Everyone knows that drinking too much alcohol is bad for you. But the question that needs to be answered by the authorities creating public policies on the matter is how much is too much? The answer is not simple and often changes in response to new knowledge. In addition to the drink’s alcohol content and... View Article
Letter from the editor | 326
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Interaction and inclusion
Anyone who has been for a routine mammogram might have thought to themselves that there is no way a woman invented the exam (and they would be right—it was Uruguayan physician Raul Leborgne [1907–1986] who discovered in the 1950s that compressing the breast tissue generated a better diagnostic image). The procedure saves lives, but there... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 325
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Questions and answers
When we decided that ChatGPT would be the subject of this issue’s cover story, we could not resist asking the software to write us an editorial. The response generated by the artificial intelligence (AI) was more like a press release, highlighting the tool’s versatility and potential applications in customer service and education (“offering personalized learning... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 324
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Life and death
One topic of frequent animated discussion in the Pesquisa FAPESP newsroom is obituaries. Some are not too fond of this branch of journalism, seeing it as a bit morbid; for others, it is a celebration of life and an opportunity to learn more about inspiring people. As an advocate of the latter, upon reading the... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 323
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Science and society
There is growing recognition of the need to bridge the gap between science and society, to find ways of helping the public understand that the production of knowledge is behind everything we do, while at the same time ensuring scientists are aware of societal issues and include them in their research whenever possible. There are... View Article
Letter from the editor | 322
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New definitions and diagnoses
What is a museum? The question doesn’t seem particularly difficult to answer. The Merriam-Webster dictionary, for example, describes it as “an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value.” The International Council of Museums, based in Paris, has spent the last six years coming up with a... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 321
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Deforestation, demarcation, disinformation
Covering climate change in general, and the impact of deforestation of the Amazon specifically, is a difficult task because the news is rarely good. The measurements themselves are not easy to comprehend—ranging from thousands of square kilometers of deforestation to temperature variations of tenths of a degree—and real advances are few and far between. The... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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FAPESP, 60 years
It has been nearly three years since the last English edition of Pesquisa FAPESP. The pandemic and consequent suspension of face-to-face activities interrupted our periodic publication of articles originally published in Portuguese, although the English version of our website has been kept up to date (revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en). Now, we are happy to return with a new... View Article
Letter from the editor | 320
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The trauma of sexual violence
Rape is one of the most violent and abject crimes imaginable. It subjects the victim to such a high degree of stress that it results in well-known deep psychological scars, as well as causing physiological impacts. These are the findings of a recent study by a UNIFESP team that combines outpatient care for girls and... View Article
Letter from the editor | 319
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Promises in the wind
Electronic cigarettes originally hit the market with the promise of helping smokers kick their tobacco addictions. But the wide range of aromas and types—as to be expected with gadgets targeted at young people—is not suggestive of a treatment method, just as the colorful and flashy stores in countries where they are sold do not bring... View Article
Letter from the Editor | 318
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Independence, 200 years later
This issue’s letter from the editor, which usually features on page 7, has been moved to page 71, requiring a somewhat different approach. If the primary objective is to present the issue, what should be said when linear readers are already two-thirds of the way through the magazine? The Pesquisa FAPESP team meets on a... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 317
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Expanding concepts
Reflecting systematically on research responsibility is a recent phenomenon in terms of the history of science. It was only at the end of the twentieth century that organized efforts to understand the problem of scientific misconduct began, focusing mainly on plagiarism, fraud, and unethical conduct in experiments on human beings, as well as on how... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 315
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Agency in the broadest sense
This May 23, FAPESP celebrates its 60th anniversary. Established in the São Paulo State Constitution of 1947, the São Paulo Research Foundation was founded in October 1960 and began operating a year and a half later. The pioneering institution is the largest state science and research agency in Brazil, serving as a national and international... View Article
Letter from the editor | 313
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A worrying drop
After a slow start, Brazil is now one of the top 10 countries with regard to the percentage of the population vaccinated against COVID-19. The country’s National Immunization Program (PNI), managed by the public health system (SUS), offers 29 vaccines as routine, at no cost to the public. The PNI has been so successful that... View Article
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 312
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Understanding and overcoming obstacles
The knowledge gained from scientific research can improve the quality of life of individuals and social groups, but it is not always effectively or quickly adopted—more so with procedures and methods than equipment and drugs. There are many obstacles, including ignorance, habit, lack of training, absence of rules, and cultural resistance. The problem can occur... View Article
Letter from the editor | 311
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Theater demonstrations
Brazilian rapper Emicida recorded a show at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo for the documentary AmarElo – É tudo para ontem (“It’s all for yesterday”). The musician chose the theater—where a 1922 exhibition known as Modern Art Week demanded greater Brazilian contribution to art—as his stage to talk about Afro-Brazilians who have played a... View Article
Letter from the editor | 310
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Capturing subtleties
Brazil is known for producing more clean energy than the average country. In 2019, 46% of its electricity came from low-carbon sources, compared to 16% worldwide (and 26% in Europe). The majority of this renewable, nonpolluting energy is produced by more than 200 hydroelectric power plants that generate two-thirds of the electricity consumed nationwide. The... View Article
Letter from the editor | 309
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Coffee, wine, açaí
It has long been known that local soil and climate characteristics, combined with cultivation and manufacturing techniques, result in unique attributes for certain agricultural or food products. There are records of this dating back to the fifth century BC, such as references to wine from the Greek island of Chios, considered a luxury item in... View Article
Letter from the editor | 308
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Diversity
The idea of using criteria for spaces on higher education courses based on anything other than performance may seem incompatible with scientific work. Conceptually, science has no color, gender, age, or any other characteristic, but it is a social activity, and we live in an unequal society. Thinking of ways to ensure equal access to... View Article