Whither Latin America? Trends and challenges of science in Latin America

Science in Latin America has experienced vigorous growth in the past decade, as demonstrated by the fact that the Latin American share of the world's scientific publications increased from 1.8% in 1991-1995 to 3.4% in 1999-2003. Significant growth has also taken place in the numbers of PhDs in science and engineering (S&E) awarded in Latin American countries in recent years, including those in the natural sciences. Importantly, albeit at different rates, growth has been verified in almost all countries in the region, indicating a general effort to promote the development of S&E. In most research fields, however, the recognition or relative impact of Latin American science, as measured by the average number of citations received by published articles (CpP), is still below world averages and much lower than in developed nations. We show that average CpP values for a set of 34 representative developing and developed countries correlate significantly with gross expenditure in research and development (GERD), with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and with the number of researchers per million inhabitants (RpM). Among those countries, Latin American nations present some of the lowest average values of CpP (<6), GERD (< or =1% of GDP) and RpM (<2,000). We also examined recent trends in scientific activity in Latin America, with focus on the natural sciences and on biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB). In terms of citation scores, publications in BMB compare favorably to those in other research fields within Latin America. At the same time, however, Latin American BMB is one of the areas for which relative impact--compared to developed nations or normalized to world averages--is lowest. These observations clearly indicate the need to establish effective policies to increase competitiveness in terms of the quality and international recognition of Latin American natural sciences in general, and BMB in particular, as opposed to merely increasing the absolute numbers of publications or the numbers of PhDs awarded in the region.     

The reality of scientific research in Latin America; an insider’s perspective

There is tremendous disparity in scientific productivity among nations, particularly in Latin America. At first sight, this could be linked to the relative economic health of the different countries of the region, but even large and relatively rich Latin American countries do not produce a good level of science. Although Latin America has increased the number of its scientists and research institutions in recent years, the gap between developed countries and Latin American countries is startling. The prime importance of science and technology to the development of a nation remains unacknowledged. The major factors contributing to low scientific productivity are the limited access to grant opportunities, inadequate budgets, substandard levels of laboratory infrastructure and equipment, the high cost and limited supply of reagents, and inadequate salaries and personal insecurity of scientists. The political and economic instability in several Latin America countries results in a lack of long-term goals that are essential to the development of science. In Latin America, science is not an engine of the economy. Most equipment and supplies are imported, and national industries are not given the incentives to produce these goods at home. It is a pity that Latin American society has become accustomed to expect new science and technological developments to come from developed countries rather than from their own scientists. In this article, we present a critical view of the Latin American investigator’s daily life, particularly in the area of biomedicine. Too many bright young minds continue to leave Latin America for developed countries, where they are very successful. However, we still have many enthusiastic young graduates who want to make a career in science and contribute to society. Governments need to improve the status of science for the sake of these young graduates who represent the intellectual and economic future of their countries.     

2000～2005年《生物化学与生物物理进展》载文被引分析

依据美国《科学引文索引(扩展版)》(ScienceCitationIndexExpanded,SCIE)和期刊引证报告(JournalCitationReports,JCR),采用文献计量方法对2000～2005年《生物化学与生物物理进展》载文被引用情况进行统计分析及评价.该刊论文平均单篇被引次数为1.70次,被引作者分布于国内23个省(直辖市)和部分国外作者,北京、湖南和广东发表在《生物化学与生物物理进展》上的论文被引比率较高.在被引机构中来自中南大学湘雅医学院的论文被引频次最高.共有115种期刊引用《生物化学与生物物理进展》.     

Comparison of Primatological Literature in Latin American, European and African Countries

I compare the primatological literature in 4 Latin American (Brazil, Perú, Mexico and Argentina) 2 European (Great Britain and France) and one African (Kenya) countries with regard to: (1) total number of publications; (2) productivity of scientists; (3) quality of the publications; and (4) the range of subjects studied. Data are from Current Primate References (CPR; 1985–1994). Publications included in the sample show an address from the countries considered. The results showed that GB and France had a far larger number of publications than the other countries. They have respectively >7 and 4 times more authors than Brazil, the country with the highest number of authors among Latin American and African countries. But the mean number of publications per author shows little difference among the 7 countries. The quality of publications as measured by the percentage indexed by ISI shows that, GB and France fare much better than the Latin American countries. Kenya did not follow the pattern of the other underdeveloped countries and showed a high percentage of indexed publications. Not all subjects reviewed in CPR were studied by scientists from the 7 countries. GB and France presented the widest range of subjects. Scientists in countries with greater primate diversity concentrated their publications in behavior, ecology and conservation, colony management and general primatology with the exception of Kenya. These results suggest that scientific production in Latin American countries can be increased by increasing the number of scientists, either through educational programs or via incentives for the career. However, more specific action is needed to improve the quality of publications and the range of subjects studied.     

The countries and languages that dominate biological research at the beginning of the 21st century

Traditionally, studies of scientific productivity are biased in two ways: they are based on Current Contents, an index centered in British and American journals, and they seldom correct for population size, ignoring the relative effort that each society places in research. We studied national productivity for biology using a more representative index, the Biological Abstracts, and analyzed both total and relative productivity. English dominates biological publications with 87% (no other individual language reaches 2%). If the USA is considered a region by itself, it occupies the first place in per capita production of biology papers, with at least twice the productivity of either Asia or Europe. Canada, Oceania and Latin America occupy an intermediate position. The global output of scientific papers is dominated by Europe, USA. Japan, Canada, China and India. When corrected for population size, the countries with the greatest productivity of biology papers are the Nordic nations, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, Saint Lucia and Montserrat. The predominance of English as the language of biological research found in this study shows a continuation of the trend initiated around the year 1900. The large relative productivity of the USA reflects the importance that American society gives to science as the basis for technological and economic development, but the USA's share of total scientific output has decreased from 44% in 1983 to 34% in 2002, while there is a greater growth of science in India, Japan and Latin America, among others. The increasing share obtained by China and India may reflect a recent change in attitude towards funding science. The leadership of Nordic nations, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands and Australia can be explained by cultural attitude. Apparently, a positive trend is emerging in Latin America, where Chile improved its ranking in per capita productivity but Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil and Cuba fell. Nevertheless, the most productive countries in total number of papers are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina: large countries with a long tradition of funding scientific research.     

Geographic patterns of genome admixture in Latin American Mestizos

The large and diverse population of Latin America is potentially a powerful resource for elucidating the genetic basis of complex traits through admixture mapping. However, no genome-wide characterization of admixture across Latin America has yet been attempted. Here, we report an analysis of admixture in thirteen Mestizo populations (i.e. in regions of mainly European and Native settlement) from seven countries in Latin America based on data for 678 autosomal and 29 X-chromosome microsatellites. We found extensive variation in Native American and European ancestry (and generally low levels of African ancestry) among populations and individuals, and evidence that admixture across Latin America has often involved predominantly European men and both Native and African women. An admixture analysis allowing for Native American population subdivision revealed a differentiation of the Native American ancestry amongst Mestizos. This observation is consistent with the genetic structure of pre-Columbian populations and with admixture having involved Natives from the area where the Mestizo examined are located. Our findings agree with available information on the demographic history of Latin America and have a number of implications for the design of association studies in population from the region.     

Comparative biochemistry and physiology in Brazil: a critical appraisal

Brazil stood out as the country with the highest number of submissions to the editorial project dedicated to Latin America by the journal Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Therefore, we felt that it was important to critically discuss the state of comparative biochemistry and physiology in this country. Our study is based on data collected from the ISI Web-of-Science. We analyzed publication trends through time, availability of novel approaches and techniques, patterns of collaboration among different geographical regions, patterns of collaboration with researchers abroad, and relative efforts dedicated to the study of biochemical and physiological adaptation of native fauna representing different terrestrial Brazilian biomes. Overall, our data shows that comparative biochemistry and physiology is a lively and productive discipline, but that some biases limit the scope of the field in Brazil. Some important limitations are the very heterogeneous distribution of research nuclei throughout the country and the absence of some important approaches, such as remote sensing and the use of molecular biology techniques in a comparative or evolutionary context. We also noticed that international collaboration far surpasses interregional collaboration, and discuss the possible causes and consequences of this situation. Finally, we found that Brazilian comparative biochemistry and physiology is biome-biased, as the Amazonian fauna has received far more attention than the whole pool of fauna representing other terrestrial biomes. We discuss the possible causes of these biases, and propose some directions that may contribute to invigorate the field in the country.     

Research in animal reproduction: An analysis of the contribution made by Latin America

In an analysis carried out on the proceedings of the last two international congresses on animal reproduction and artificial insemination (1980 and 1984), a total of 944 papers presented were classified according to sex and species of the experimental animal, reproductive event studied, and country of origin. Latin America was found to be responsible for almost 10% of presentations, with Venezuela and Mexico making up half that total. The bovine species was the most studied both by Latin American countries (51.1%) and in general (42.7%). Approximately 15% of the Latin American contribution was concerned with goat studies versus 3.4% in general. Overall, the female was studied twice as much as the male. Fertility and estrous cycle were the reproductive events most studied both in general (36.3% and 31.6%, respectively) and by Latin American authors (27.2% and 33.3%, respectively). Latin American research concentrated on two main aspects: the effect of environment on reproduction and reproductive efficiency (25.8% and 13.7% of the total, respectively).     

Proteomics in Argentina ‐ limitations and future perspectives: A special emphasis on meat proteomics

Argentina is one of the most relevant countries in Latin America, playing a major role in regional economics, culture and science. Over the last 80 years, Argentinean history has been characterized by several upward and downward phases that had major consequences on the development of science in the country and most recently on proteomics. In this article, we characterize the evolution of Proteomics sciences in Argentina over the last decade and a half. We describe the proteomics publication output of the country in the framework of the regional and international contexts, demonstrating that Argentina is solidly anchored in a regional context, showing results similar to other emergent and Latin American countries, albeit still far from the European, American or Australian realities. We also provide a case‐study on the importance of Proteomics to a specific sector in the area of food science: the use of bacteria of technological interest, highlighting major achievements obtained by Argentinean proteomics scientists. Finally, we provide a general picture of the endeavors being undertaken by Argentinean Proteomics scientists and their international collaborators to promote the Proteomics‐based research with the new generation of scientists and PhD students in both Argentina and other countries in the Southern cone.     

Bibliometric analysis of global scientific research on carbapenem resistance (1986–2015)

Background

Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health challenge and carbapenem resistance, in particular, is considered an urgent global health threat. This study was carried out to give a bibliometric overview of literature on carbapenem resistance. In specific, number of publications, top productive countries and institutes, highly cited articles, citation analysis, co-authorships, international collaboration, top active authors, and journals publishing articles on carbapenem resistance were analyzed and discussed.

Methods

Specific keywords pertaining to carbapenem resistance were used in Scopus database. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of retrieved data were presented using appropriate bibliometric indicators and visualization maps.

Results

A total of 2617 journal articles were retrieved. The average number of citations per article was of 21.47. The growth of publications showed a dramatic increase from 2008 to 2015. Approximately 9 % of retrieved articles on carbapenem resistance were published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal. Retrieved articles were published by 102 different countries. The United States of America (USA) contributed most with 437 (16.70 %) articles followed by China with 257 (9.82 %) articles. When productivity was stratified by population size, Greece ranked first followed by France. Greece also ranked first when data were stratified by gross domestic product (GDP). Asian countries have lesser international collaboration compared with other countries in the top ten list. Five of top ten productive institutes were Europeans (France, the UK, Greece, Italy, and Switzerland) and two were Asians (China and South Korea). Other active institutes included an Israeli and a Brazilian institute. Four of the top ten cited articles were published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal and two were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Conclusion

There was a dramatic increase in number of publications on carbapenem resistance in the past few years. These publications were produced from different world regions including Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. International collaboration needs to be encouraged particularly for researchers in Asia. Molecular biology and epidemiology dominated the theme of the top ten cited articles on carbapenem resistance. This bibliometric study will hopefully help health policy makers in planning future research and allocating funds pertaining to carbapenem resistance.

     

The current status of ethnobiological research in Latin America: gaps and perspectives

Background

Recent reviews have demonstrated an increase in the number of papers on ethnobiology in Latin America. Among factors that have influenced this increase are the biological and cultural diversity of these countries and the general scientific situation in some countries. This study aims to assess the panorama of ethnobiological research in Latin America by analyzing its evolution, trends, and future prospects.

Methods

To conduct this study, we searched for papers in the Scopus (http://www.scopus.com) and Web of Science (http://www.isiknowledge.com) databases. The search was performed using combinations of keywords and the name of each Latin American country. The following countries were included in this study: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay.

Results and conclusions

According to our inclusion criteria, 679 ethnobiological studies conducted in Latin America were found for the period between 1963 and 2012. Of these studies, 289 (41%) were conducted in Brazil, 153 in Mexico (22%), 61 in Peru (9%), 58 in Argentina (8%), 45 in Bolivia (6%), and 97 (14%) in other Latin American countries. The increased number of publications related to this area of knowledge in recent years demonstrates the remarkable growth of ethnobiology as a science. Ethnobiological research may be stimulated by an increase in the number of scientific events and journals for study dissemination and by the creation of undergraduate courses and graduate programs to train ethnoscientists who will produce high-quality studies, especially in certain countries.

     

Reduction in morbidity and mortality from childhood diarrhoeal disease after species A rotavirus vaccine introduction in Latin America - a review

Countries in Latin America were among the first to implement routine vaccination against species A rotavirus (RVA). We evaluate data from Latin America on reductions in gastroenteritis and RVA disease burden following the introduction of RVA vaccine. Published literature was reviewed to identify case-control studies of vaccine effectiveness and population-based studies examining longitudinal trends of diarrhoeal disease reduction after RVA vaccine introduction in Latin American countries. RVA vaccine effectiveness and impact on gastroenteritis mortality and hospitalization rates and RVA hospitalization rates are described. Among middle-income Latin American countries with published data (Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador and Panama), RVA vaccine contributed to a gastroenteritis-associated mortality reduction of 22-41%, a gastroenteritis-associated hospitalization reduction of 17-51% and a RVA hospitalization reduction of 59-81% among children younger than five years of age. In Brazil and El Salvador, case-control studies demonstrated that a full RVA vaccination schedule was 76-85% effective against RVA hospitalization; a lower effectiveness of 46% was seen in Nicaragua, the only low-income country with available data. A growing body of literature offers convincing evidence of "real world" vaccine program successes in Latin American settings, which may be expanded as more countries in the region include RVA vaccine in their immunization programs.     

Current estate of biotechnology in Costa Rica

A study was carried out on the construction of indicators in biotechnology in Costa Rica as part of the project "SYMBIOSIS, Cooperative Program for the Construction of Indicators in Biotechnology adapted to Latin American and Caribbean countries, to motivate the application and transference of industrial technologies". The study focused on two units: researchers and research projects developed in Costa Rica, between 1998 and 2002. For researchers, information was collected about indicators related to sex, age, teaching activities, number of projects, academic degree, area of speciality and number of publications. For research projects we obtained information about: speciality, sector of application, duration of projects and number of researchers per project. Very interesting results include the high participation of the women in this area of investigation (54%); the low participation of young researchers (13% younger than 30), and a high proportion of the investigators that are responsible for 4 or more projects (42%). With relation to the specialities of the projects, the majority are in the category Bio-Agro (39%) whereas in Acuaculture only 1% was found. The sectors of application with the most number of projects are: Agriculture and Livestock (37%) and Human Health (35%). The main strengthts and limitatations for the development of biotechnology in Costa Rica are discussed.     

TP53 mutations as biomarkers for cancer epidemiology in Latin America: current knowledge and perspectives

Due to particular social and economical development, and to the impact of globalization of lifestyles, Latin America shows a superposition of cancers that are frequent in low resource countries (gastric, oesophageal squamous cell and cervical cancers) and high resource countries (cancers of breast, colon and rectum, lung and prostate). Latin America thus offers opportunities for investigating the impact on changing lifestyle patterns on the occurrence of cancer. At the molecular level, mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 are common in many cancers and their distribution can be informative of the nature of the mutagenic mechanisms, thus giving clues to cancer etiology and molecular pathogenesis. However most of the data available are derived from studies in industrialized countries. In this review, we discuss current trends on cancer occurrence in Latin American countries, and we review the literature available on TP53 mutations and polymorphisms in patients from Latin America. Overall, a total of 285 mutations have been described in 1213 patients in 20 publications, representing 1.5% of the total number of mutations reported world-wide. Except for hematological cancers, TP53 mutation frequencies are similar to those reported in other regions of the world. The only tumor site presenting significant differences in mutation pattern as compared to other parts of the world is colon and rectum. However, this difference is based on a single study with 35 patients. Recently, a characteristic TP53 mutation at codon 337 (R337H) has been identified in the germline of children with adrenocortical carcinoma in Southern Brazil. Further and better focused analyses of TP53 mutation patterns in the context of epidemiological studies, should help to improve our understanding of cancer etiology in order to develop appropriate health policies and public health programs in Latin America.     

Antenatal Syphilis Screening Using Point-Of-Care Testing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Asia and Latin America: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

BackgroundUntreated syphilis in pregnancy is associated with adverse clinical outcomes to the infant. In low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Latin America, 20%-30% of women are not tested for syphilis during pregnancy. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of increasing the coverage for antenatal syphilis screening in 11 Asian and 20 Latin American countries, using a point-of-care immunochromatographic strip (ICS) test.MethodsThe decision analytical cost-effectiveness models reported incremental costs per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted from the perspectives of the national health care payer. Clinical outcomes were stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and congenital syphilis. DALYs were computed using WHO disability weights. Costs included the ICS test, three injections of benzathine penicillin, and nurse wages. Country-specific inputs included the antenatal prevalence of syphilis and the proportion of women in the antenatal care setting that are screened for syphilis infection as reported in the 2014 WHO baseline report on global sexually transmitted infection surveillance. Country-specific data on the annual number of live births, proportion of women with at least one antenatal care visit, and per capita gross national income were also included in the model.ResultsThe incremental cost/DALY averted of syphilis screening is US$53 (range: US$10-US$332; Prob<1*per capita GDP=99.71%) in Asia and US$60 (range: US$5-US$225; Prob<1*per capita GDP=99.77%) in Latin America. Universal screening may reduce the annual number of stillbirths by 20,344 and 4,270, neonatal deaths by 8,201 and 1,721, cases of congenital syphilis by 10,952 and 2,298, and avert 925,039 and 197,454 DALYs in the aggregate Asian and Latin American panel, respectively.ConclusionAntenatal syphilis screening is highly cost-effective in all the 11 Asian and 20 Latin American countries assessed. Our findings support the decision to expand syphilis screening in countries with currently low screening rates or continue national syphilis screening programs in countries with high rates.     

Cultivation of red seaweeds: a Latin American perspective

The Latin American seaweed industry plays an important role at a global scale as 17 % of all seaweeds and 37 % of red seaweeds for the phycocolloid industry comes from this region. Increased market demand for algal raw materials has stimulated research and development into new cultivation technologies, particularly in those countries with economically important seaweed industries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, México, and Peru. The marine area of Latin America includes almost 59,591 km² of coastline ranging in latitude from 30ºN to 55ºS and encompasses four different oceanic domains: Temperate Northern Pacific, Tropical Eastern Pacific, Temperate South America, and Tropical Atlantic. Commercial cultivation of red seaweed in Latin America has been basically centered in the production of Gracilaria chilensis in Chile. Attempts have been made to establish seaweed commercial cultivation in other countries, going from experimental research-oriented studies to pilot community/enterprise based cultivation trials. Some genera such as Kappaphycus and Eucheuma have been studied in Brazil and Mexico, Gracilaria species in Argentina and Brazil, Gracilariopsis in Peru and Venezuela, and Chondracanthus chamissoi in Peru and Chile. In this short review, we address the Latin America perspective on the status and future progress for the cultivation of red seaweeds and their sustainable commercial development, and discuss on the main common problems. Particular emphasis is given to the needs for comprehensive knowledge necessary for the management and cultivation of some of the most valuable red seaweed resources in Latin America.