Sirius, Brazil’s largest research facilityCNPEM
Without purporting to be a definitive list of the most important discoveries and breakthroughs from the last 25 years, this special edition of Pesquisa FAPESP highlights 25 standout scientific and technological milestones—both in Brazil and globally—that have had a significant impact on the course of research and innovation since this magazine’s launch 25 years ago. Given their limitations, lists like these are inherently non-exhaustive and subject to debate. Impactful breakthroughs have inevitably been left out, while some of those listed, some might argue, may not warrant inclusion. With that said, the aim of this list is to show how science can evolve and redefine human knowledge in a relatively short space of time.
Sirius: synchrotron light and the structure of matter
The Sirius particle accelerator, the largest and most complex science facility ever built in Brazil, was launched in November 2018 at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), just 15 kilometers from Campinas, São Paulo. A particle accelerator is a machine used to generate synchrotron radiation, a special type of light source that, like a giant microscope, enables scientists to investigate the structure of matter at the atomic and molecular level. Built at an estimated cost of about R$2 billion, Sirius is still not fully completed, with 6 of its 14 experimental stations currently operational.
– Content published in the early issues sparked debates and backed Brazilian science
– Researchers explain important humanities concepts
– Teachers use articles from the magazine to discuss science in class
– Magazine wins over readers in every state
__
Exoplanets: from rare to routine
In the 1990s, the discovery of exoplanets—planets orbiting stars other than the Sun—was an exceptional event. Today, scientists have confirmed the existence of over 5,600 exoplanets, each with its own unique characteristics. However, none have shown signs of life as we know it on Earth.
__
Complex societies in the Amazon
Recent archaeological research in the Amazon has revealed that this vast rainforest may once have been home to highly developed, complex societies with populations numbering in the millions during precolonial times. Evidence such as large interconnected villages, roads, and the presence of dark earths—a type of fertile soil linked to long-term human occupation—supports this new view. Some findings even suggest that the Amazon rainforest was once a managed environment, shaped by Indigenous peoples for centuries, rather than a pristine natural biome.
__
Brazil’s mixed heritage
Genetic research over the past two decades, examining DNA from various groups across Brazil, has shown that regardless of skin color, many Brazilians have European male ancestors and female ancestors of African or Amerindian origin.
__
Sequencing the first human genome took more than a decade and billions of dollarsNIH
Human genome sequencing
On February 12, 2001, two of the world’s top scientific journals, Nature and Science, published drafts of the full human genome sequence, produced by two independent and competing groups: an international public consortium and a private US company, Celera. The public initiative took over a decade and cost US$2.7 billion to complete. This led to a wave of genomic research and technology in the decades that followed. Today, sequencing an individual’s DNA takes just a few hours and costs around US$600.
__
James Webb: Hubble’s successor
On Christmas morning 2021, the almost US$10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched as the successor to the iconic Hubble telescope. JWST is the largest, most expensive, and most powerful tool ever built for space observation. Its breathtaking images are capturing the world’s imagination and are set to propel astronomy into new territory.
__
The Higgs boson
Forty-nine years after its existence was predicted by British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs (1929–2024), the Higgs boson was officially confirmed in March 2012. The discovery was announced by researchers at the LHC, the world’s largest particle accelerator. The Higgs boson is the subatomic particle that imparts mass to all other particles. The discovery was a breakthrough for the Standard Model of physics—which describes the interactions between particles and forces in the visible universe—filling in a key piece that had long been missing.
__
Flex-fuel cars propel mobility in Brazil
The commercial debut of Brazil’s first flex-fuel car in March 2003 revolutionized the country’s passenger car market. Flex-fuel vehicles can uniquely run on gasoline, ethanol, or any blend of both. As of 2023, flex-fuel cars made up over 76% of Brazil’s vehicle fleet. When running on ethanol, they generate less emissions compared to those running on gasoline.
__
The Amazon has been plagued by increasingly frequent droughtsAguilar Abecassis / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Amazon research
The Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), launched in 1998, placed Brazil’s vastest biome at the center of a large, multidisciplinary research program, drawing dozens of teams from Brazil, Europe, and the US. The program advanced studies on land use and climate in the Amazon, integrating fields such as chemistry, physics, and biology. Today, it is difficult to find senior researchers at major Brazilian universities doing Amazon research who have not been involved with the LBA.
__
The birthplace of dinosaurs
Along with Argentina, Brazil has, in the last two decades, emerged as one of the top sites on Earth for discovering the most ancient dinosaur fossils. These finds have made South America a likely candidate for the birthplace of dinosaurs, which went extinct 65 million years ago. At least six species of dinosaurs, dating back over 230 million years, have been uncovered in the Santa Maria geological formation in Rio Grande do Sul. Five of these six species were discovered after 1999. The largest measured 2.5 meters in length and stood about waist-high to an adult human.
__
Xylella sequencing kick-starts genomics in Brazil
The cover article of the July 13, 2000 issue of Nature reported on the first genome sequencing of a plant pathogen, Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium that causes citrus variegated chlorosis in orange groves. The sequencing was carried out by a virtual network of labs and over 200 researchers in São Paulo, with funding from FAPESP. A first in Brazil, the initiative built expertise in genomics and bioinformatics that paved the way for similar projects across the state and country.
__
The rise of artificial intelligence
In late 2022, the general public was first introduced to a field of research that had been quietly evolving in academia and tech companies for years: generative artificial intelligence (AI). The commercial release of ChatGPT, developed by US startup OpenAI, sparked a wave of both excitement and fear. While prone to error, the system can generate coherent text based on user prompts and simulate human-like conversations. Other AI tools soon followed, including some that can produce images and videos.
__
China produces roughly a quarter of all papers published worldwideXu Qingyong / Costfoto / Future Publishing via Getty Images
China overtakes the US in science output
At the end of the last decade, China surpassed the US as the world’s leading producer of science. Multiple metrics support this shift. In 2022, for example, a report by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy revealed that Chinese researchers published 23.4% of papers in science journals between 2018 and 2020, based on data from Clarivate Analytics—more than any other country. Chinese scientists also lead in citations in prestigious journals.
__
The discovery of graphene
In 2004, physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov from the University of Manchester, UK, successfully isolated and characterized graphene. Using adhesive tape, they exfoliated a sample of graphite—the same material used in pencil leads—to create a crystalline sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern, just one atom thick. This breakthrough won them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Graphene is both incredibly strong and flexible, as well as an excellent conductor of electricity. The discovery ushered in the era of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
__
mRNA vaccines
The COVID-19 pandemic that broke out in early 2020 accelerated the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines—a new approach to immunization that had been under research and testing for years but had not yet gained approval for human use. Safe and effective vaccines using this technology, developed by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, were widely used during the pandemic. Two pioneers of mRNA vaccine research, Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó and American immunologist Drew Weissman, were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work.
__
The women who revolutionized gene editing
French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American biochemist Jennifer Doudna shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their role in creating the gene-editing technique CRISPR. Both were instrumental in the development and mainstreaming of this groundbreaking technology, which debuted in the early 2010s. Known for its high precision, CRISPR is now used to genetically modify plants and holds promise for treating certain diseases. This was the first time two women shared a Nobel prize without a male co-recipient.
__
Amazon guardian
Launched in February 2021, Amazonia 1 is the first medium-sized satellite entirely designed and built in Brazil. Developed by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Amazonia 1 passes over Brazil multiple times each day, capturing imagery that is used for environmental monitoring and agricultural and urban planning. Alongside American, European, and Sino-Brazilian satellites, Amazonia 1 plays a key role in tracking deforestation in the Amazon and other ecosystems.
__
Ultra-processed foods have a major impact on healthLéo Ramos Chaves / Pesquisa FAPESP
The risks of ultra-processed foods
Around 15 years ago, researchers at the University of São Paulo’s School of Public Health (FSP-USP) introduced an innovative way to categorize foods that cause obesity and harm health, particularly those engineered by the food industry to be cheap, hyper-flavored, and tantalizing. Under the NOVA food classification system, these ready-to-eat products, made from highly processed substances, were labeled as “ultra-processed” foods. The NOVA framework has since gained international recognition.
__
Embraer’s ascent in regional aviation
In February 2002, a prototype of the Embraer 170, a 70-seat narrow-body jet airliner, made its maiden flight. Launched commercially two years later, it became the first model in a highly successful series of short- to medium-range airliners that propelled the Brazilian company to become the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer, behind Boeing and Airbus. With more than 9,000 planes produced across its catalog, Embraer is now the world’s largest producer of commercial jets with up to 150 seats, and Brazil’s top exporter of high-tech goods.
__
Mini-organs for research and treatment
Organoids—also called mini-organs—are three-dimensional structures grown from stem cells that accurately mimic the cellular complexity and functions of human organs. These clinical models hold great promise for studying diseases, testing therapies, and developing regenerative medicine. Since the early 2000s, techniques for creating mini-organs like the intestines, brain, liver, and lungs have rapidly advanced, opening exciting new possibilities for clinical research.
__
Brazilian mathematician wins Fields Medal
In 2014, Artur Avila, from the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), became the first South American to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious international award in mathematics. The honor is awarded to researchers under 40 years old at the time of selection. A specialist in dynamic systems, Avila, now 45, is a professor at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and a researcher at IMPA.
__
A black hole pictured at the center of the Messier 87 galaxyCollaboration Event Horizon Telescope
Capturing the first image of a black hole
A dark silhouette surrounded by a glowing, slightly blurred ring in the heart of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy, located toward the constellation Virgo. This 2019 image marked the first-ever photograph of a black hole. The black hole itself is not visible, but rather the shadow cast by its event horizon—the point where gravity becomes inescapable. The image was captured by a team from the international Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. In 2022, the project also published an image of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
__
Gravitational waves: a century-old prediction come true
In 1915, Albert Einstein’s (1879–1955) general theory of relativity predicted that the accelerated motion of massive objects would produce ripples in the fabric of space-time. One hundred years later, in 2015, scientists at the LIGO Observatory in the US detected these ripples—known as gravitational waves—for the first time, created by the collision of two black holes. The discovery ushered in a new field of study in astrophysics.
__
Humans are the main force behind climate change
In August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the first part of its sixth report, stating beyond doubt: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land.” With even greater confidence than prior assessments, the report reaffirmed that global warming is primarily fueled by rising greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly resulting from human activities and especially the combustion of fossil fuels.
__
New growth chart for infants
Based on data from a study of more than 7,000 children in Brazil, the US, Norway, Oman, Ghana, and India in the early 2000s, a team of epidemiologists from the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), in Rio Grande do Sul, made a major contribution to developing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended growth charts for infants. These charts, which track age, weight, and height, are now used in over 140 countries.
The story above was published with the title “Science milestones” in issue 344 of October/2024.
Republish