Issue # 104 _ October 2004
S&T Policy
industry
Promising beginning
Competitiveness Forum is going to structure national policy for biotechnology
fomentation
Mission Accomplished
Fapesp closes year 2003 with financial recovery above forecast
By Maria da Graça MascarenhasScience
Physics
Versatile Minds
Physicists help to solve problems in genetics, in medicine, and in team leadership
By Carlos FioravantiGenetics
One mutation, three diseases
The same alteration in a gene can cause distinct pathologies in the neurons that control movements
By Revisor and Redaçãogenomic
Fertile deserts
Method identifies functional sequences of DNA in the midst of wildernesses devoid of genes
By Marcelo LeiteBotany
Plants that migrate
Cerrado shares over half its species of trees with the Atlantic Rain Forest and the Amazon Forest
MEDICINE
The relief from salt
Silver nitrate against the accumulation of liquid between the pulmonary membranes
By Ricardo ZorzettoTechnology
New Materials

A fiber for all handiwork
Dry Curauá leaves have wide use; from car parts to clothes and medicines
By Dinorah ErenoChemistry
Green Station
Bromeliads and lichens are used to detest the presence of metals in the polluted air of Sao Paulo
nutrition
Educated Choices
Children discover the healthiest foods through the incentive of an educational game
Security

Electronic watcher
A company develops a system that identifies car number plates and compares them to a data bank
By Samuel Antenor