Turning science and technology into a priority in Brazil

Turning science and technology into a priority in Brazil

In a previous contribution to this blog, I said that science and technology is not a priority in less developed countries, including Brazil. I recently described why this is in Scientia & Ricerca. Brazil’s government claims it cannot treat science and technology different from other areas. If it cannot double the investments in other areas, it cannot double the investment in science and technology. Since the Gross National Product (GNP) of Brazil cannot double in one year we are stuck with investments in science and technology at 1% of GNP historically.  Read more

Vaccines the world over

Vaccines the world over

Recently in an opinion piece in Authors Journal, I claimed that science is not popular. I said this because even though vaccines and antibiotics have greatly improved our health, most people do not understand that without them many of us would die before 40. The precise history of vaccines is difficult to know, but the concept is centuries old.  Read more

Is Science a Priority in Less Developed Countries?

Is Science a Priority in Less Developed Countries?

Twenty five years ago the Christian Democrat President of Chile Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle invited the most prominent scientific authorities in the world to visit Chile, or, as he called it, the end of the world. In the agenda one simple question: can less developed countries (LDCs) perform long-term science at the same level that developed countries do? Most people attended from the World Bank, AAAs, Japanese and Korean authorities, and many others of the main scientific institutions in the world. I was there, too. The Minister of Science and Technology, Israel Vargas, included me in his team from Brazil.  Read more

Brazil’s plunging science investment

Brazil’s plunging science investment

In my recent opinion piece in Biotechnology Research and Innovation, I called attention for the fact that Brazil invested roughly $25 billion in science and technology in public and private money in 2013, and should invest at least twice as much. The US, for example, invests 16 times more than what Brazil does, and yet the National Growth Income (NGI) in the US is only eight times larger than the NGI in Brazil. The NGI of Brazil and Canada are comparable, but Canada invests 10 times more in science and technology than Brazil. The private sector should invest in science and technology in Brazil twice as much the public sector, which is what happens in most developed countries.  Read more

Heparin, Brazil and innovation

Heparin, Brazil and innovation

An article published at the Brazilian Journal  of Cardiovascular Surgery compared all heparins manufactured by Brazilian companies to Liquemine, manufactured by Hoffman La Roche. Heparin is a complex carbohydrate that was introduced to control thrombosis during extra-corporeal surgeries during the 1930s by Clarence Crafoord. It’s been nearly a century and there is no substitute for the drug. No surgeon performs chest surgery without heparin at hand.  Read more

Law 13123 and access to the Zika virus

Law 13123 and access to the Zika virus

Last year I published an eBook by Schollars Press with an Last year I published an eBook by Schollars Press with an acknowledgment for this blog. The eBook was titled, Topics About Biotechnology in Brazil. One such topic was The Future of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Brazil.  Read more

Doubling Feed and Food in Brazil

Doubling Feed and Food in Brazil

In my previous posts I wrote that Brazil can double its food and feed production without increasing deforestation or further depleting our biomes. I mentioned that Brazil has conservatively 30 million hectares of degraded pasture distributed mostly in the Cerrado area in the south. This is almost the same acreage that Brazil uses for its production of grain and meat in these areas. Today Brazil produces close to 200 million tons of grain and we are the world’s No. 1 meat producer.  Read more