The Inquiry Can Brazil's supercows feed the world?
Zebu cattle were not always part of Brazil's landscape. After being imported from India in the late 19th century, farmers found their resilience to heat, pests, and poor pasture made them ideal for Brazil's expanding cattle frontier.
Thanks to decades of selective breeding and low-cost pasture-based farming, Brazil is now the world's largest beef exporter, and demand is only rising.
Despite its economic success and domestic popularity, Brazil's beef has a significant environmental cost due to its emissions and links to deforestation. However, their genetic material has the potential to be used around the world to make cattle more resilient to climate change.
Contributors:
Carolina Arantes, Photojournalist, France
Dr. Oscar Broughton, Teaching Fellow and historian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK
Dr Cassio Brauner, Associate Professor in Beef Cattle Production Systems, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil
Dr Marcos Barozzo, Assistant Professor of Economics, DePaul University, Chicago, US
Presenter: David Baker
Producer: Louise Clarke
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Tara McDermott
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production co-ordinator: Tammy Snow
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Scientists discover $4 'Ozempic' hiding in grocery stores across the US
Scientists have identified a natural Ozempic hiding in nearly every grocery store across the US. Brazilian researchers discovered that okra, a fuzzy green pod often overlooked in supermarkets, may help reduce body fat, improve blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and even protect vital organs like the liver f rom obesity-related damage. The research, conducted on rats, points to the vegetable's potential as a low-cost tool in fighting metabolic disorders and supporting long-term health, similar to the powers of Ozempic that costs around $1,000 a month. Often priced at around $4 per pound, okra is an edible seed pod available in green and red varieties. It's long been praised for its high fiber and antioxidant content, but this new research shines a light on its lesser-known metabolic benefits. Researchers credit catechins, powerful antioxidants found in okra, and also in green tea, for many of its effects. These compounds are known to combat inflammation, support cardiovascular health and may play a role in disease prevention. While human trials are still needed, scientists believe introducing okra early in life could offer protective health effects over time. Registered dietitian Dr Sereen Zawahri Krasuna, who was not involved in the study, said: 'Okra may not be at the top of most people's grocery lists. 'But it's easier than you'd think to use it in the kitchen. Okra's health benefits definitely make it worth the effort.' In this animal trial, researchers worked with newborn rats, dividing them into two initial groups based on litter size to simulate different feeding conditions. The first group included only three pups per mother - allowing them to have more access to milk and gain weight more rapidly. The other group followed a standard litter size of eight pups, creating more competition for milk and slower early growth. At three weeks old, all rats were weaned and placed on one of two diets: a standard rodent diet or the same diet supplemented with 1.5 percent okra. The form of the okra, whether fresh, powdered, or otherwise, was not specified. The rats remained on their assigned diets until adulthood at 100 days old. Researchers tracked body weight, food and water intake, blood sugar, fat accumulation, and muscle mass every two days. They also measured insulin sensitivity in both the body and brain, and analyzed inflammation markers in the hypothalamus, the brain region that regulates appetite and energy balance. By adulthood, rats from small litters on a standard diet showed greater food consumption, higher blood sugar, and increased fat mass compared to the others, highlighting the metabolic risks tied to early-life overnutrition and the potential mitigating effects of okra. Rats that were overfed early in life showed clear signs of metabolic dysfunction, including insulin resistance, a key driver of Type 2 diabetes. However, those same rats who were later placed on an okra-supplemented diet had lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels compared to those that didn't receive okra, despite identical early-life overfeeding. The small-litter rats on the okra diet also experienced slightly increased fat mass but showed gains in muscle mass, better glucose tolerance, and improved blood sugar control. Strikingly, their brains also exhibited reduced inflammation and responded to insulin administered directly into the brain. This was something not observed in the overfed rats on a standard diet, suggesting improved central insulin sensitivity, which plays a role in regulating hunger and energy balance. In contrast, rats from standard-sized litters, whether on an okra diet or not, showed no significant differences in weight, blood sugar, fat accumulation, or brain inflammation. This led researchers to conclude that okra's benefits may be most effective in those already at risk of obesity-related conditions. While human trials have not yet been conducted, the researchers believe that compounds in okra, such as catechins, quercetin, and other phenolic antioxidants, may help counteract the long-term effects of early-life overnutrition. They noted that consuming excess calories during critical developmental windows, whether in animals or humans, can lead to lasting damage to the liver, heart, and brain. Introducing antioxidant-rich foods like okra, they suggest, could be a simple and affordable strategy to reduce metabolic disease risk later in life. However, the scientists believe that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of okra can help fight against the damage caused by obesity, improve blood sugar levels and heart health. Additionally, previous research has shown that eating okras can also reduce the risk of developing colon cancer and improves bone health. Dr Krasuna noted: 'Fiber also helps with blood sugar control. It works by slowing down the absorption of sugar and carbs. Okra is a great high-fiber food. 'One-half cup of cooked okra provides more than 2 grams of fiber - nearly 10 percent of what adults need in a day.' Furthermore, one-half cup of cooked okra also provides 32 micrograms of Vitamin K (essential for blood clotting and bone health), 14 milligrams of Vitamin C (supports the immune system and enhances iron absorption) as well as 37 micrograms of folate ( a crucial B vitamin essential for cell growth and division). The fruit can be eaten raw in salads or salsa as well as cooked or roasted along other fruits and vegetables into various dishes. The study was published in Brain Research earlier this month.
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Snakebites kill 130,000 people a year. This UK lab may have the answer
The snake was clearly unhappy. The terciopelo — a species known in its native Latin America as 'the ultimate pit viper' for its aggression and the potency of its venom — darted across the floor of the lab, the tip of its tail rattling as it looked for someone to take out its anger on. 'This one is a big mean old girl,' said Edd Crittenden, a senior animal technician at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine's Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, as he prepared to trap her to extract her venom. 'She has quite an attitude — she doesn't like us some days.' A bite from this angry snake — 5ft long, with vivid yellow and black markings — has the potential to trigger internal bleeding and cause tissue to wither and die. If untreated, it can be fatal. More than two million people are bitten by venomous snakes around the world each year, and as many as 138,000 die as a result. The 25 researchers working at the Liverpool snakebite centre, which holds one of the largest collections of tropical venomous snakes in Europe, is aiming to develop new treatments. And they are close to a breakthrough. Next summer they will start trialling two pills for snakebite victims in Ghana and Brazil. The new approach could have a radical impact on snakebite mortality. Currently the only treatment for a bite from a venomous snake is an antivenom — a medicine produced by extracting antibodies from the blood of sheep or horses that have been repeatedly dosed with snake venom. But that approach, which dates to the 19th century, is riddled with problems. 'Snake venoms vary from one species to the next,' said Nick Casewell, director of the centre. 'Each antivenom works only against certain snakes, and some of them are actually very poor. Even if they work, they have to be given in a major hospital, because they are given intravenously, via a drip, and people often have adverse reactions to them, so you want to be able to carefully monitor them. But in rural Africa or Asia or the Amazon rainforest, those kinds of facilities are often many hours or even days away. 'So what we're trying to do is develop an oral medication that can be given in the community soon after a bite. It doesn't need to be stored in a fridge like antivenom. And it can be given by anyone: you don't need any specialist training to give a pill.' Eventually, tourists may be able to carry the pills if travelling in risky areas. Even in Britain, where snakes are often kept as pets, dangerous snakebites occur. Some 300 people, 72 of them children, were bitten by exotic snakes between 2009 and 2020, according to reports to the UK National Poisons Information Service. Antivenom was given in 17 cases, and one person died. Deaths from native British snakes are far rarer — the last recorded death from an adder was in 1975. Casewell's team has already carried out a phase 1 trial of one new snakebite treatment, a pill called unithiol, showing that it was safe on healthy patients in Kenya. Next year they will start a phase 2 trial on patients who have been bitten by snakes, alongside another treatment called marimastat. About 200 people will take part in the trial across Ghana and Brazil. Both medicines were initially developed for other purposes — unithiol to treat poisoning from mercury, arsenic and lead, and marimastat to treat cancer. They both work by reducing the impact of metalloproteinases — a type of enzyme which is active in metal poisoning, some forms of cancer and also, the team discovered, in snake venom. 'We realised these are a really important component,' said Casewell. 'Terciopelo, the Malayan pit viper, saw-scaled vipers, Russell's viper — they all have a lot of metalloproteinases in their venom. Our drugs are targeting that toxin family.' He added: 'Our long-term vision is that we would have one pill to deal with some of the toxins and another to deal with some other toxins. And then it doesn't matter so much which snake you're being bitten by, you should be able to delay pathology. We're hoping those drugs will at the very least reduce the severity of envenoming, and buy that patient a lot more time to get secondary treatment.' David Lalloo, vice-chancellor of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and a world-leading snakebite expert, said: 'Oral treatments would be a game changer — there's no doubt at all.' But he said a deeper problem is that snakebites have been ignored as a medical problem. 'The response globally has not been anywhere near as extensive or urgent as it needs to be.' As co-chair of a new Global Snakebite Taskforce, a group of doctors, scientists and world leaders formed at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May, he is trying to raise political awareness and investment. Until then, the researchers in Liverpool need more venom to test — which is why Crittenden was in the lab trying to trap the angry terciopelo. He had already extracted the venom from a pair of Malayan pit vipers and then a Mozambique spitting cobra — for which he wore a face shield, for fear of its 10ft spitting range. The furious terciopelo posed a different challenge. Using a long-handled tool, a band of rubber stretched across two prongs, Crittenden pinned the snake against the floor and reached down, grasping it just behind its jaws. It bared its fangs, trying to whip its head around to bite his wrist, but his grip stopped the movement. Together with his colleague Paul Rowley, who secured the tail, they carried the snake to a beaker with a silicone lid. The viper — which was donated to the centre by a pet shop in Bristol — bit down through the silicone, yellowish venom dripping into the glass. Crittenden and Paul Rowley trap the angry terciopelo SUNDAY TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP 'What I find really interesting is venom's biological variability,' said Casewell, as Crittenden labelled the beaker to store away. 'You're bitten by one snake and you might bleed. You're bitten by another snake, you might have a breathing paralysis. You're bitten by another snake, you might have none of those and just some really severe local tissue damage. 'Now we're able to apply the knowledge gained to hopefully make a real impact on people who are bitten by snakes.'
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
‘World's smallest volcano' bubbling gases & sludge discovered by locals after bursting from the ground in Peru
A VOLCANO touted as the smallest in the world has been discovered - and it's shorter than a set of cricket stumps. Mysterious substances were found oozing out of the tiny geological formation in the city of Cusco, southern Peru. 6 6 6 6 A group of locals stumbled across a raised, blackened mound around 60cm tall in the Peruvian mountains. It looks like a small pimple in the earth's crust. It has a shallow conical shape - just like classic volcanoes - and a crater at the peak. Material has evidently been seeping from the top and down the sides, before solidifying to form a hard, dark casing. The whole structure stretches over just a few square metres. Locals reported that gases and other unknown substances were seeping from the mouth. The villagers promptly declared it the 'smallest volcano in the world". Wearing a traditional poncho, community leader, Arturo Mamani, dubbed it "The Eagle's Eye". Mamani and his family left traditional offerings of coca leaves at the base as a gesture of respect. The mountain town hit the headlines the following day, and a growing number of curious spectators visited to take a look. After learning of the extraordinary feature, the authorities cordoned off the area and called in the experts. Hernando Tavera, head of the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), said The Eagle's Eye is not in fact a volcanic vent, but rather a small cone of earth, clay and water known as a mud volcano. He said it is a natural structure where mud, water, and dissolved gases emerge from lower levels of soil. It does not involve magma or any volcanic activity. Tavera explained: 'This type of phenomenon occurs when gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and others make their way to the surface and carry clay sediments mixed with groundwater. 'The result is a mound with a central hole, a cone with a crater, which leads to it being considered a 'volcano' due to its shape. 'However, its origin, type of activity, and the materials it emits bear no relation to the active volcanoes found in the south of the country.' Although it does not pose a volcanic risk, Tavera warned that it could negatively impact the environment - with the potential to contamination of nearby water sources and crops. The IGP is continuing to monitor the mud volcano, also known as a mud dome, to determine if it poses any kind of risk to the local community. 6 6
