Issue # 291 _ May 2020
Cover
- Science fights back
- In just four months, 8,000 scientific articles have been published on Covid-19, more than 70 drugs tested against SARS-CoV-2, and the first vaccines trialed on humans By Redação
- A frightening disease
- Reports suggest the novel coronavirus may indirectly affect other organs as well as the lungs By Ricardo Zorzetto
- The antivirus arsenal
- The search for an effective treatment for COVID-19 includes testing drugs already used against other diseases and even plasma By Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade
- Progress toward dengue vaccine
- A formulation developed by the Butantan Institute has shown protective effects in the second phase of testing By Carlos Fioravanti
- Vital ventilators
- Brazil’s hospitals scramble to buy ventilators for ICUs, while a FAPESP-supported firm closes a deal to supply 6,500 units to the Brazilian Ministry of Health By Yuri Vasconcelos and Frances Jones
- In the palm of the hand
- A São Paulo physician developed a portable respirator in the 1950s By Carlos Fioravanti
- Michel Nussenzweig: Antibody hunter
- Brazilian-born immunologist searches the plasma of patients who have survived COVID-19 for proteins capable of fighting the novel coronavirus By Ricardo Zorzetto
- Historical vulnerability
- Chronic health problems and poor connections with public authorities make combating the SARS-CoV-2 virus a challenge for indigenous peoples By Christina Queiroz
- Research during the quarantine
- By Redação
S&T Policy
Statistics

Stunted by recession
IBGE’s latest PINTEC survey reveals slowing innovation momentum among Brazilian firms between 2015 and 2017
By Fabrício MarquesInterview

Carlos Guerra Schrago: The theory and practice of evolution
The discipline that seeks to reconstruct the histories of species is itself evolving, according to UFRJ biologist
By Fabrício Marques and Maria GuimarãesScience
Environment

Fire and biodiversity
Experiment suggests that small, controlled fires increase the number of plant species in the Cerrado without decreasing the number of animals
By Marcos PivettaAstronomy

Windows on the Milky Way
Regions of space with less gas and dust allow astronomers to observe stars on the other side of the galaxy
By Ricardo ZorzettoAtmospheric sciences

Pizza soot
Pizzerias in São Paulo produce the equivalent of 9% of the fine particulate matter emitted by vehicles in the city’s Metropolitan Region
By Eduardo GeraqueTechnology
Materials engineering

Homegrown graphene
Graphene production facilities in Brazil’s Southeast and South place the country among the global producers of the high-tech material
By Domingos ZaparolliBiotechnology

Clothes made of bacteria
Biofabrics made from microbes are crawling their way into the fashion industry
By Frances Jones