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Fertile grounds

Nature volume 461, pages 1308–1309 (2009)Cite this article

Can Brazil use its booming economy and abundant natural resources to become a life-sciences juggernaut? Gene Russo finds out.

The Alhambra-inspired pavilion, built between 1905 and 1918, is the headquarters of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, commonly known as Fiocruz. Spearheaded by the Pasteur Institute-trained bacteriologist after whom it is named, the foundation helped develop vaccines to treat devastating outbreaks of bubonic plague, smallpox and yellow fever in Brazil. Cruz wanted a temple for science, an emblem people would recognize and respect. Funded by the federal government, Fiocruz is now not only central to Brazilian public health, it is also a major employer and trainer, with nearly 6,000 researchers in Rio and several other satellite campuses around the country.

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  1. Gene Russo is Editor of Naturejobs.

    Gene Russo

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  1. Gene Russo
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Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

Fundacão de Ámparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Butantan Institute

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BIOEN

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Russo, G. Fertile grounds. Nature 461, 1308–1309 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7268-1308a

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