Sir

As a young Brazilian scientist, I am proud to see a major achievement of the Brazilian scientific community in the pages of Nature — the sequencing of Xylella fastidiosa (Nature 406, 151–157; 2000). However, I take issue with the view (Nature 406, 109; 2000) that this milestone is “a signal to Brazil's young scientists that they do not need to leave the country to engage in world-class science”. In fact, the achievement is not due to, but despite, Brazil's support for basic scientific research.

Most of Brazil's scientific productivity comes from the country's richest state, São Paulo, which supported the consortium that sequenced X. fastidiosa. The disparity between research support in São Paulo and in other Brazilian states is enormous: this research effort in no way represents the overall state of Brazilian science. Yet even in São Paulo scientists are grossly underpaid, often waiting years for salary readjustments that failed to keep up with high inflation rates in the 1980s and early 1990s. Few Brazilian students or lecturers will have a chance to read this or any other recent issue of Nature, as severe funding cuts have resulted in the cancellation of periodical subscriptions in many universities.

The rigid bureaucracy of Brazilian public universities turns the simplest transaction into a nightmare. On a recent visit to a top university, I had to make several trips between buildings to obtain authorizations to get a simple chemical from a stockroom. Young lecturers have to make huge efforts to assemble a laboratory.

Given the precarious situation of basic research in Brazil, it would be a serious mistake to let one major achievement project a view of a scientific landscape that is far from reality. Major changes in the administrative structure of Brazilian universities are needed to make them compatible with the development of fledgling scientific careers.

For most Brazilian scientists with academic positions in the United States or Europe, returning home remains akin to academic suicide. Reversing this situation may be far more difficult than sequencing and assembling whole genomes.