In a previous publication, I stressed the fundamental importance of research for improving health using as an example the control of Chagas disease in the Americas.(1) For that purpose, I analysed the major scientific breakthroughs and public health events from the 1909 discovery of Chagas disease and its causative pathogen, Trypanosoma cruzi, by Carlos Chagas,(2) through the successful control of its transmission by insect vectors in large regions of the Southern Cone countries in the 90s.(3) In the twenty years since that publication, Brazil and Latin American countries had to cope with a number of serious public health threats, old and new: (i) recrudescence of well-known diseases, such as dengue and yellow fever; (ii) emergence of viral diseases that had been restricted to other continents (Zika, Chikungunya); (iii) new epidemics (H1N1) or (iv) pandemics (COVID-19). Are there still some lessons from that success story against a neglected disease of the 90s that would be relevant today in the context of these recent challenges?

Saúde, ciência e tecnologia são requisitos para o desenvolvimento econômico e social. Os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milênio da ONU para 2015 representam um imenso desafio para os países em desenvolvimento. Esses países terão de organizar sistemas de pesquisa em saúde baseados em prioridades sanitárias e assegurar a incorporação dos resultados às políticas e ações de saúde. Avanços na área biomédica, em particular em genômica, abrem novas oportunidades, mas impõem desafios adicionais. O Brasil, possuidor de um forte parque industrial e uma vigorosa comunidade científica, tem capacidade para desenvolver um sistema de pesquisas em saúde capaz de contribuir efetivamente para o cumprimento das metas da ONU.

Health, science and technology are requisites for economic and social development. The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to be attained by 2015, represent an immense challenge to developing countries. They will need health research systems with clear R&D priorities and ensure that results are incorporated into policy and practice. Advances in the biomedical sciences, particularly in genomics, open new opportunities but impose additional challenges. Brazil can count on a powerful industrial basis and a strong scientific community to develop an effective health research system, a requirement for the achievement of the MDGs.

Saúde, ciência e tecnologia são requisitos para o desenvolvimento econômico e social. Os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milênio da ONU para 2015 representam um imenso desafio para os países em desenvolvimento. Esses países terão de organizar sistemas de pesquisa em saúde baseados em prioridades sanitárias e assegurar a incorporação dos resultados às políticas e ações de saúde. Avanços na área biomédica, em particular em genômica, abrem novas oportunidades, mas impõem desafios adicionais. O Brasil, possuidor de um forte parque industrial e uma vigorosa comunidade científica, tem capacidade para desenvolver um sistema de pesquisas em saúde capaz de contribuir efetivamente para o cumprimento das metas da ONU.

Health, science and technology are requisites for economic and social development. The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to be attained by 2015, represent an immense challenge to developing countries. They will need health research systems with clear R&D priorities and ensure that results are incorporated into policy and practice. Advances in the biomedical sciences, particularly in genomics, open new opportunities but impose additional challenges. Brazil can count on a powerful industrial basis and a strong scientific community to develop an effective health research system, a requirement for the achievement of the MDGs.

O artigo analisa a evolução do TDR como Programa Especial co-patrocinado por três agências das Nações Unidas, suas fases históricas e as mudanças -- por vezes radicais -- de sua estrutura organizacional/funcional. Este dinamismo moldou o TDR como um Programa em constante aperfeiçoamento, assegurando geração de conhecimento e sua transformação em ações de saúde pública no controle de doenças tropicais.

The article analyses the evolution of TDR as a Special Programme co-sponsored by three United Nations agencies, its historical phases and the changes -- often radical -- of its organizational/functional structure. This dynamism shaped TDR as a continuously evolving Programme, assuring the generation of new knowledge and its transformation into public health actions for the control of tropical diseases.

Paleoparasitologia é o estudo de parasitos encontrados em material arqueológico. O desenvolvimento deste campo da pesquisa teve início com a identificação de ovos de helmintos em tecidos mumificados, análise de coprólitos e, recentemente, através da biologia molecular. Neste artigo faz-se uma breve revisão da história da paleoparasitologia com referência especial aos estudos de ADN antigo (ancient DNA) em material arqueológico

Paleoparasitology is the study of parasites found in archaeological material. The development of this field of research began with histological identification of helminth eggs in mummy tissues, analysis of coprolites, and recently through molecular biology. An approach to the history of paleoparasitology is reviewed in this paper, with special reference to the studies of ancient DNA identified in archaeological material.

Since the start of the human genome project, a great number of genome projects on other "model" organism have been initiated, some of them already completed. Several initiatives have also been started on parasite genomes, mainly through support from WHO/TDR, involving North-South and South-South collaborations, and great hopes are vested in that these initiatives will lead to new tools for disease control and prevention, as well as to the establishment of genomic research technology in developing countries. The Trypanosoma cruzi genome project, using the clone CL-Brener as starting point, has made considerable progress through the concerted action of more than 20 laboratories, most of them in the South. A brief overview of the current state of the project is given

A simple protocol is described for the silver staining of polyacrylamide gradient gels used for the separation of restriction fragments of kinetoplast DNA [schizodeme analysis of trypanosomatids (Morel et al., 1980)]. The method overcomes the problems of non-uniform staining and strong background color which are frequently encountered when conventional protocols for silver staining of linear gels. The method described has proven to be of general applicability for DNA, RNA and protein separations in gradient gels.

Inhibição do crescimento de um subespécie de Leishmania por exometabólitos de outra subespécie, um fenômeno ainda não notificado, é sugerido em nossas recentes observações em experimentos de clonagem celular com Leishmania mexicana mexicana e Leishmania mexicana amazonensis. Os clones foram identificados usando a técnica de análise de esquizodemas. O fenômeno observado é claramente relevante em estudos de isolamento parasitário, metabolismo, imunidade cruzada e quimioterapia.

Inhibition of one Leishmania subspecies by exometabolites of another subspecies, a phenomenon not previously reported, is suggested by our recent observations in cell cloning experiments with Leishmania mexicana mexicana and Leishmania mexicana amazonensis. Clones were identified using the technique of schizodeme analysis. The phenomenon observed is clearly relevant to studies of parasite isolation, leishmanial metabolism, cross-immunity and chemotherapy.