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Brazil Science in Agriculture and Health
Applied Science in Agriculture and Health
The "applied science in agriculture and health" period
covers the first decades of the republic, from 1889 to the mid-1930s.
As a republic, Brazil became more decentralized. The country's economic
pole shifted gradually to São Paulo State--the center of coffee
production and the destination of massive European immigration,
second only to Buenos Aires in Latin America. Most of the new higher
education
and research institutions in those years were created in the
city of
São Paulo. They addressed the two main areas of concern
in those years: public health, particularly the sanitation of the
country's main port cities, Santos and Rio
de Janeiro; and agricultural research. The main São Paulo
State institutions from those years were the Agronomic Institute
of Campinas (Instituto Agronômico de Campinas), the Biological
Institute for Animal Protection (Instituto Biológico de Defesa
Animal), the Butantan Institute (Instituto Butantan) for snake-venom
research, the Geological Commission of São Paulo State (Comissão
Geológica do Estado de São Paulo), and the Vaccine
Institute (Instituto Vacinogênico). Also during this period,
the scientific professions expanded and tried to find their place
in the modernization of Brazilian society.
The most significant scientific institution in this period, however,
was the Manguinhos Institute (Instituto Manguinhos), now the Oswaldo
Cruz Foundation (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) in Rio de
Janeiro. This institute played a central role in the control of
tropical diseases, such as yellow fever, malaria, and parasitic
diseases. It developed important research lines in zoological fields
such as helminthology (worms) and entomology (insects), and its
researchers were the first to identify the full etiology of Chagas'
disease. The Manguinhos Institute provided the link between Brazilian
researchers and the international scientific community. Most of
Brazil's leading scientists in human biology, public health, and
related fields were trained there. The Manguinhos Institute's success
is attributed to the ability of its leadership to combine a clear
sense of short-term objectives with a commitment to the values of
scholarship and research.
Data as of April 1997
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