Mexican Scientists Research Articles

The incorporation of generative artificial intelligence in the research and writing practices of mexican scientists

Este artículo examina la incorporación de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) en las prácticas de investigación y escritura de científicos mexicanos. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a investigadores de las áreas de biología, ciencias biológicas y ciencias biomédicas. Se encontró que el uso más común de herramientas de IA es para mejorar, transformar y adaptar textos, especialmente en la corrección de manuscritos en inglés, facilitando así la publicación en contextos internacionales. Otros usos incluyen la búsqueda de bibliografía, el apoyo como tutor virtual, la interpretación preliminar de datos y la generación de código de programación para análisis estadísticos. Solo uno de los participantes utiliza la IA como asistente de investigación para definir objetivos y metodologías. Todos los participantes coincidieron en que la IA mejora su eficiencia. Sin embargo, también identificaron problemas significativos, como el plagio, la filtración de información y la deshonestidad académica. Varios denunciaron el uso indebido de textos completos generados por IA, práctica observada tanto en estudiantes como en investigadores consolidados. Ante estos desafíos, es fundamental implementar programas de formación, campañas de concientización y establecer lineamientos éticos actualizados. El artículo concluye con recomendaciones para mejorar la transparencia y la declaración del uso de IA en la investigación.

Monitoring of main tomato (Solánum lycopérsicum L.) diseases and methods of microbiological control of phytopathogens

The article highlights the main diseases of tomato plants caused by phytopathogenic microorganisms that cause great damage in many countries of the world, including Ukraine. It has been analyzed that phytopathogenic micromycetes that parasitize tomato plants cause huge losses in agricultural production, reducing the quality of products, and also release toxins that cause poisoning and numerous serious diseases that affect humans and animals that consume this product. It has been established that the most common tomato diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi are late blight, alternaria, septoria, gray rot, spotted wilt virus, and bacterial tomato cancer. Microbiological means of control were analyzed as an alternative to chemical fungicides, which are considered safe methods in modern agriculture. They stimulate the defense mechanisms of plants, acting as inducers of plant resistance or as means of biological control. It was found that one of the common biological preparations in the fight against diseases and improving the growth of tomato culture are preparations containing Trichoderma spp. They are widely used as biofungicides against the pathogens Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii. The study of Mexican scientists on the testing of various isolates of the genus Trichoderma spp. Chinese scientists identified a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CQ-4) that can effectively control the spread of gray rot disease and identified bacteria of the genus Bacillus subtilis, which are characterized by notable antagonistic activity against a wide range of phytopathogenic bacteria and micromycetes and are a factor in biological control. Also, scientists from Egypt who conducted experiments on two endophytic fungi, namely Curvularia lunata and Nigrospora sphaerica, where their antagonistic action against phytopathogenic fungi and their ability to produce an important growth hormone and provide some necessary nutrients for plant growth were evaluated. A number of investigated antagonist strains are the basis or promising for the production of microbial preparations for controlling phytopathogens in agroecosystems and increasing the yield of tomato plants.

Winds of Change: Plant Pathology, Transnational Wheat Rust, and the Environmental Origins of the Green Revolution, 1904–1953

Abstract Created in 1943, the Mexican Agricultural Program (MAP) was a collaborative program between the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican government aimed at improving yields of corn and wheat varieties in Mexico. The MAP's wheat program was more influential than its corn breeding program, and wheat became the centerpiece of the Green Revolution beginning in the 1960s. This article reveals that the environmental origins of the MAP's wheat program lay in combating a plant disease fungus commonly known as wheat rust, which harmed farmers in both northern Mexico and the US hard red spring wheat region. Rust outbreaks originated in US barberry bushes, so one might think that Mexican scientists would have entered the United States to solve this problem with transnational wheat rust. Instead, the reverse occurred. Nevertheless, the MAP successfully produced new rust-resistant wheat during the formative years of the MAP's wheat program. Between 1943 and 1953, rust-resistant wheat helped increase Mexican wheat production 84 percent and yields 59 percent. Rust-resistant wheat offered an alternative model for a sustainable, resource-neutral green revolution. Rather than remain in their field of expertise, plant pathologists pivoted to semidwarf wheat and fertilizer use after 1953, a shift that defined the course of the Green Revolution.

Mexican Scientist Diaspora in North America: A Perspective on Collaborations With México.

Scientific diasporas from developing countries represent an opportunity to strengthen international collaborations. These collaborations build upon the desire of members of the diasporas to establish scientific, academic, technological, and cultural exchange networks with the communities in their country of origin. While Mexico has a significant number of scientists residing abroad, particularly in North America, and most of them are committed to aid in the country's development, institutional coordination has not harnessed its benefits. In this work, we present an analysis of initiatives carried out by Mexican scientists, members of the diaspora, studying or working in the United States of America and Canada. The study is based on a set of interviews with members of this diaspora. We asked scientists about the conditions that enabled or obstructed their initiatives back in Mexico, and we discussed the role of these factors for capacity building. We also provide general recommendations to enhance contributions to the advancement of science in the country.

Back and forth: cybernetics interrelations and how it spread in Latin America

Cybernetics is a science characterized by the utopian search for new relationships between different areas of knowledge. After the Second World War, the best-known references in Western academia were Norbert Wiener’s approaches to this new discipline. However, there is another little-known hemisphere of this development that remains understudied and we claim is key for its history which refers to the pioneering work of scientists, engineers and cultural practitioners in Latin America, as well as the materialization of specific experiences that lead us to reflect on the role that some regional milestones could have had in the global context. This volume of AI & Society covers points of view that were structured in the various most emblematic stages of these trajectories with the participation of agents that went beyond the assimilation and interpretation of external models, transforming themselves into fundamental and pioneering experiences, among others, the work of Mexican scientist Arturo Rosenblueth, or the impact of the concept of Autopoiesis. Through this article we introduce the outcome of the research—presented in great length in the contributions of this volume—on some of the main stages and trends that constituted the evolution of cybernetics in Latin America. The particular contributions of the authors in this issue have helped to reconstituting these contexts while developing a continuous horizon which also explores future practices.

Archaeology of Mexico City: new studies in the study of the history of the ancient Aztecs

The article presents an overview of archaeological discoveries in Mexico City over the past few years. The research, which is carried out primarily by Mexican scientists, is based on both traditional methods of archaeology and the capabilities of modern science, in particular, electroresistive tomography and geophysics. The article uses primary data and their inclusion in the history of archaeological research in Mexico City is still ahead. Despite the preliminary nature of the assessments of these archaeological data, they allow not only to clarify the established ideas based on the many decades of work of archaeologists, but also to take them into account when further studying the past of the Aztecs and their capital Mexico City-Tenochtitlan. The paper presents the materials of recent excavations in the area of the Main Temple (Mexico City proper) and Greater Mexico City (the ancient territory around Lake Texcoco). In the center of Mexico City, archaeologists have discovered the remains of the room in which the Spaniards were, who first found themselves in the Aztec capital, fragments of pre-Hispanic stone basreliefs. It is also a find of the Great (Great) Tsompantli (traditional construction of skulls). The excavations of the Great Cuaushikalco as part of the ritual and sacred space and the ancient objects associated with it can be considered noteworthy. In the Greater Mexico City area, there are ongoing studies of an artificial tunnel, a cave (a symbol of the entrance to the world of the dead) inside the famous pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan. Here, on the territory of the ancient valley of Mexico, the study of the Preclassic period of its history continues (archaeological surveys in Zacatenco and Tlalpan with the oldest burials of unusual cone-shaped graves and intentional spiral arrangement of bodies). The post-classical period (the Aztec era) was enriched by excavations of salt mining sites, etc. The article notes that the new archaeological data generally confirm the well-known features of the Aztec society, without justifying, but also without belittling its own importance in world history and culture.

Fifty years of Bryology in Mexico

Background: Mexican botanists were not involved in bryophyte research fifty years ago; only four small floristic contributions were published between 1942-1958.
 Questions: What has been learned in the last fifty years? How many bryophytes are there in Mexico? What are the contributions by Mexican scientists?
 Studied species: Bryophyte flora.
 Study site and dates: Mexico, between 1942-2021.
 Methods: Bibliographic compilations were used to revise the status of bryophyte research in Mexico. Data for the last fifty years cited there and in an updated version of Latmoss served to determine the current knowledge of Mexican bryophytes as contributed by Mexican scientists. No thesis research was considered unless published in a scientific journal.
 Results: There are 16 species of Anthocerotophyta, ca. 600 of Marchantiophyta, and 997 Bryophyta in Mexico. At least seven phytogeographic elements are represented: Northern, Meso-American, Caribbean, Southern, Wide distribution, and Endemic. Highlights of Mexican research include the discovery of Hypnodontopsis sp., a Miocene amber fossil from Chiapas, identification of heavy metals deposits in urban mosses in Mexico City and Toluca, determination of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of Pseudocrossidium replicatum , and the potential use of recombinant proteins from Physcomitrella patens .
 Conclusions: Taxonomic and floristic studies should be continued along with the bryological exploration of the country. Conservation is urgent, but studies of drought tolerance, air pollution, climate change, and potential uses in medicine require support and collaboration from other scientists.

Attempt to charge Mexican scientists with ‘organized crime’ prompts international outcry

The Mexican government has accused 31 scientists and officials of organized crime and money laundering — allegations that they deny and that many claim are politically motivated. The Mexican government has accused 31 scientists and officials of organized crime and money laundering — allegations that they deny and that many claim are politically motivated.

Producción científica de los investigadores mexicanos sobre el covid-19

This article examines the scientific production in Mexico on the new coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2 or covid-19). We analyze the national articles that appear in Scopus in the period January-October 2020. We focus on five aspects: 1) comparing the national production on covid-19 to that of other countries; 2) examining the relationship between research and development (R&D) spending and the number of articles on covid-19; 3) studying the role of international collaboration on national academic production; 4) identifying the institutions that generate the most articles on the subject; 5) creating a map of terms as of the titles and abstracts of the 565 national publications, with the objective of identifying the research areas where Mexican scientists work.

The low latitude aurora borealis of 1789 from Mexico records

Low-latitude auroras are extremely rare. In this work, we study the low-latitude aurora observed on November 14 and 15, 1789. Before this one, several auroras had been studied in the world but no one of low-latitude. As far as we know, this was the first to be studied observationally, physically and mathematically: two explanations were proposed, aurora’s height and overhead were measured, one aurora treatise were published, its observation was predicted in other regions, and, for the first time, an aurora was reproduced in a laboratory. These analyses were carried out by three Mexican scientists, Antonio de León y Gama, José Antonio Alzate and Francisco Dimas Rangel. We used these Eighteenth century works to estimate some parameters of the 1789 aurora. We calculated the height and we confirmed that León y Gama’s value was determined correctly for low latitude auroras, in the range between 460 and 680 km. We also determined the position of the auroral oval, and we found it was almost circular with a radius of approximately 4786 km; probably this aurora manifested along the entire length of the auroral oval, or at least in the arc of the circle between America and Europe. We estimated the geomagnetic latitude of the auroral oval (overhead points) at 47°N (43° from the geomagnetic north pole). We determined, as well, the geomagnetic latitude of the southernmost places where it was seen at ~34° (56° from the geomagnetic north pole). Our result on the relationship between sub-zenith point (overhead) and southernmost point is 30°/17° (geographic latitude), the lowest reported at that time.

Pycnogonids from marine docks located along the west coast of the Gulf of California, Mexico.

Sea spiders (Class Pycnogonida Latreille, 1810) are chelicerate arthropods, with an extraordinarily reduced body armed with eight to twelve elongated legs. A literature review of taxonomic and ecological studies of pycnogonids from Mexico identified 49 nominal species (~3.6% out of 1,335 species described worldwide). This low species richness is likely caused by limited taxonomic research and intermittent sampling and research efforts initially carried out by foreign scientists (1893-1996) and later by Mexican scientists. The present study investigates the latitudinal gradient of species richness of the pycnogonids associated with nine marine docks located between Cabo San Lucas (22°53'N) and Santa Rosalía (26°58'N) along the west coast of the Gulf of California, 22°53'N Mexico and provides a detailed morphological re-description of each nominal species using light and scanning electron microscopy. Nine nominal pycnogonid species and one unidentified species in the genus Tanystylum were collected and identified from the biological samples collected between 2011-2017. The highest pycnogonid species richness was recorded at Bahía de La Paz (seven species, 24°14'N) and the lowest species richness at Cabo San Lucas (one species) without an evident latitudinal species richness gradient. Anoplodactylus californicus Hall, 1912 and Ammothella spinifera Cole, 1904 were the most abundant species (52% of the total number of individuals). Tanystylum occidentale (Cole, 1904) and Nymphon apheles Child, 1979 were new geographical records for Mexico and Ammothella symbia Child, 1979 and A. californicus were new records for Baja California Sur state. Adding these new geographical records of pycnogonids increased the species richness previously recorded at Baja California Sur from 20 to 24 nominal species and for Mexico, the species richness increased from 49 to 51 nominal species.

Chemistry and Biology of Selected Mexican Medicinal Plants.

Herbal medicines are an integral element of alternative medical care in Mexico, and the best testimony to their efficacy and cultural value is their persistence in contemporary Mexican marketplaces where the highest percentages of medicinal and aromatic plants are sold. This chapter summarizes current trends in research on medicinal plants in Mexico, with emphasis on work carried out at the authors' laboratories. The most relevant phytochemical and pharmacological profiles of a selected group of plants used widely for treating major national health problems are described.From this contribution, it is evident that in the last five decades a significant amount of research on medicinal plants has been performed by Mexican scientists. Such efforts have led to the publication of many research papers in noted peer-reviewed journals and technical books. The isolation and structural characterization of hundreds of bioactive secondary metabolites have been accomplished, and most importantly, these studies have tended to support the ethnomedical uses of many different species. A multidisciplinary approach for investigating these plants has led to an increased emphasis on areas such as phytopharmacology, phytotoxicology, quality control, regulation, and conservation issues for these valuable resources. The medicinal plants analyzed so far have shown a very broad chemical diversity of their constituents, which have a high potential for exhibiting novel mechanistic effects biologically. The chapter shows also that there is need to conduct additional clinical studies on herbal drugs, in particular because the longstanding traditional evidence for their safety is not always sufficient to assure their rational use. There is also need to move to "omics" approaches for investigating the holistic effect and the influence of groups of phytochemicals on the whole organism. Mexican scientists may be expected to have bright prospects in this regard, which will imbue medicinal plant research with a new dynamism in the future.

The Science and Politics of Race in Mexico and the United States, 1910–1950. By Karin Alejandra Rosemblatt

This book is a unique addition to the history of American states’ ardent attempts to cope with their multicultural societies during the first five decades of the twentieth century. Rosemblatt, an established scholar of race and gender in Latin America, has produced a remarkable study of the U.S. and Mexico at a time when social sciences in both countries were growing, and state agencies in both nations made attempts to manage and aid vulnerable populations. Skillfully weaving the history of social science ideas and state policies aimed at indigenous people in early twentieth-century Mexico and the U.S., the author transcends comparison and provides a truly transnational study. Rosemblatt’s goal is to study the efforts of social scientists “who worked with state officials to understand how to manage racial difference within and across nations” (3). The book has three sets of arguments, one for each nation and then a third about the relationship between the two. The author finds important distinctions between the two countries’ intellectual perspectives and policy outcomes, even as scientific communities in each nation freely shared ideas. For example, in the U.S., the overarching goal was “sensitive” acculturation of indigenous people in the context of the overarching assumption that indigenous cultural expressions would “disappear” once no longer functional. Mexican scientists’ energies, on the other hand, were largely devoted to documenting in great detail the cultural diversity in their nation, and they resisted generalizing theories. Finally, Rosemblatt convincingly demonstrates that Mexican scholarship influenced U.S. social science—in spite of the fact that scientists in both countries acknowledged the imbalance of power between the two.

Attitudes and perceptions of Conacyt researchers towards public communication of science and technology.

This study aims to explore the perceptions and attitudes toward Public Communication of Science and Technology of the researchers of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), in order to provide a diagnosis about the ways the Mexican scientists are involved in public communication and to contribute to the visibility of researchers' needs in being able to popularize science. The results show significant differences among the researchers' opinions with respect to their perceptions about science communication, the ways they participate in PUS activities and their identified needs. In general, the researchers of Conacyt perceived public communication as very important. However, lack of time and of academic recognition stood out as determining factors in their low contribution to science popularization. We conclude that, to achieve a culture of Public Engagement in public communication of science and technology among R&D institutions, the Mexican Administration should address the above-mentioned unfavorable professional circumstances.

Williams and Morrone misunderstand and inadvertently support my argument: Mexico’s SNI systematically steers ecological research

Abstract My recent publication highlighting the unintended steering influences of publication incentives on the research agenda of Mexican ecological scientists elicited a vehement critique from two renowned Mexican ecologists, Williams and Morrone. The argument I advance is that Mexico’s National System of Researchers (SNI) unintentionally steers ecological researchers away from the knowledge needs of local, national, and regional users of scientific knowledge and relinquishes research priority-setting to individuals and institutions disconnected from Mexico’s knowledge needs. Rather than engaging with the substance of argument, these critics focus on what they believe to be factual errors. In their response, Williams and Morrone effectively but unintentionally confirm the premise, mechanism, and indeed the key factual claims in my article. I stand behind my analysis as published.

José Mariano Mociño y Lozada Naturalista Novohispano del Siglo de las Luces

The 18th century was key to the development of the science and the knowledge of the natural world in New Spain. Natural history and botany played prominent roles among the new scientific disciplines owing to the great interest and intense activity of the intellectuals of New Spain, the vast knowledge that Mesoamerican indigenous people had of their plants and landscapes, and the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain. Jose Mariano Mocino y Lozada is one of the most outstanding Mexican scientists and naturalists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His personality reflects the influence of those who vindicate indigenous knowledge, as well as the influence of the boom of science in Europe of that time. Indefatigable collector, Mocino identified a large number of plant species using the method of Linnaeus. He made headway in the natural history of temperate and tropical regions, and paid special attention to the relationship between indigenous cultures and their environments. Mocino was convinced that Mexican science should take into account the knowledge Mesoamericans had about nature and rigorously apply the scientific method to it. He always defended experimental research as basic to the rational use of natural resources.

Obesity, race and the indigenous origins of health risks among Mexican mestizos

ABSTRACTWe explore the discourses of Mexican scientists and doctors on genetics and obesity and how these relate to ideas about race, class and national identity. Drawing on interviews with geneticists and doctors treating obese children, the paper makes two contributions to the literature on race and medical science. First, although our data reveal familiar racializing tendencies among geneticists, a more nuanced view is needed, as medical doctors who are sceptical about genetic explanations nevertheless tend to racialize, using more environmental and cultural explanations, which adduce epigenetic mechanisms. Second, rather than focusing on minority groups, as in much literature on racialization and genetics, in Mexico ideas about racialized genetic (and cultural) ancestry also impinge on the majority “mestizo” (mixed-race) population, opening broader panoramas of racialized pathologization. These two factors represent an overall strengthening of discourses of race in Mexico and probably in much of Latin America.

Resiliencia, vulnerabilidad y sustentabilidad de sistemas socioecológicos en México

There is a growing understanding of the strong interdependence between societies and ecosystems, and from this vision the concept of socialecological system (SS) arises, as part of a new paradigm. This article presents an analysis of the contributions of Mexican scholars to the analysis of SS. First, we review the basic concepts of socioecological systems, resilience, vulnerability and ecosystem services in the context of SS. Second, we analyze the theoretical-conceptual contributions of Mexican scientists to these issues. Third, we describe some outstanding case studies of the SS integrative perspective. Fourth, we quantitatively explore the contribution of Mexican scholars in publications on SS, resilience and sustainability. Fifth, we assess the undergraduate and postgraduate educational programs on these topics in Mexico. Sixth, we describe how these approaches have permeated decision-making. Finally, we analyze knowledge gaps, challenges and perspectives, identifying the important advances in SS, resilience and vulnerability in the country. We consider critical to understand the challenges related to the stability of the systems, the scientific certainty and the existence of expert decision makers as well as the development of more resilient and less vulnerable SS.

La macroecología en México: historia, avances y perspectivas

Macroecology emerged at the end of the 1980's as a synthetic discipline aimed at describing and understanding biodiversity patterns at large spatial and temporal scales. Here, we review the state of the art of macroecology in Mexico by identifying: (i)the main theoretical and applied contributions made by Mexican researchers; (ii)knowledge gaps and theoretic-methodological challenges, and (iii)perspectives of this research field in Mexico. After conducting systematic searches in the Web of Science database and targeted specific topic searches we found 163 articles published by Mexican scientists, most of them in the last decade. Thirty seven percent of these papers were focused at a regional scale and 31% at a national scale, and most of them (90%) corresponded to terrestrial habitats. Mammals, plants and birds were the groups better represented (33%; 21%, and 17%, respectively). The main contributions were developed in the study of diversity patterns, ecological niche, analyses of diversity at different scales (alpha, beta and gamma diversity), and the distributional area. It is important to incorporate subjects such as abundance, phylogenetic and functional diversity and transform the discipline into a more predictive one able to contribute in solving environmental issues at national and global scales.

Access Denied: The Continuing Challenge to Environmental Sciences in the Trump Era

Access Denied: The Continuing Challenge to Environmental Sciences in the Trump Era