It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, January 06, 2026
Indigenous-led conservation efforts match or surpass similar initiatives when properly funded, new research shows
Government support helps communities limit carbon emissions and promote biodiversity while maintaining cultural heritage and traditions
Federally funded Indigenous-led conservation programs are delivering highly effective climate and biodiversity outcomes, aligning with national greenhouse gas mitigation and biodiversity goals, according to a new paper led by Concordia researchers.
Writing in the journal Earth’s Future, the authors say these programs, as Indigenous-led Nature-based Solutions (NbS), can be just as or even more effective at carbon storage and biodiversity conservation as conventional national and provincial parks.
“Most of the knowledge we have about Indigenous-led conservation efforts comes from countries in the tropics,” says lead author Camilo Alejo, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment. “We want to explore the effect of government support on Indigenous-led initiatives in the Canadian context.”
Comparing vast areas
The study examines two Indigenous-led NbS: the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) and the Indigenous Guardians programs.
The IPCAs were established in 2018 and consist of vast regions of land and water in the Northwest Territories. They are administered by local Indigenous Nations using Indigenous laws and traditions and ensure that the peoples there maintain their relationship with their lands. The two IPCAs the researchers studied — Thaidene Nëné on the eastern arm of Great Slave Lake and Edéhzhíe to its west — together cover some 40,000 square kilometres.
The $125-million Indigenous Guardians program was launched in 2017. It has funded over 240 initiatives that act as “eyes and ears on-the-ground,” monitoring ecological health, maintaining cultural sites and protecting sensitive areas and species. All of them are led by First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities.
To carry out the study, the researchers combined national-scale data on forests, vegetation, soils, wildlife habitat and land use with information on Indigenous-led initiatives funded between 2018 and 2020.
They compared three types of land: government-funded Indigenous lands, Indigenous lands without federal funding and conventional protected lands, such as national or provincial parks.
The team used geospatial analysis to map carbon stored in plants and soils and calculated a biodiversity index that included species richness, rarity and ecological intactness. The different land areas were made as comparable as possible using statistical methods, which provided a clearer picture of the effects of Indigenous governance over the areas under their management.
Finally, the researchers analyzed descriptions of Indigenous-led projects to identify common themes. Three principal themes emerged: stewardship practices, including traditional fire practices of controlled burns, knowledge exchange and climate adaptation.
These analyses showed that federally funded Indigenous-led efforts at conserving carbon and biodiversity matched or exceeded outcomes in protected areas. Indigenous-led saw significantly lower carbon loss between 2017 and 2020 than these other areas while keeping biodiversity levels stable, improving on pre-funding carbon trends.
The study did not look at what caused emissions to rise or fall, but land transformation driven by human activity like logging and forest fires were believed to be contributors.
Border issues
The researchers noted conservation project descriptions often linked environmental benefits to Indigenous governance, intergenerational knowledge sharing and climate and biodiversity initiatives.
However, they also say ongoing issues around land tenure, ownership and jurisdiction risk complicating conservation works.
“This study shows that Indigenous-led conservation is an effective mechanism to generate positive environmental outcomes,” says co-author Damon Matthews, a professor in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment.
“Government funding improves these outcomes. But we have to address issues of land tenure and control on top of that.”
Assembly First Nations strategic advisor Graeme Reed at York University contributed to this study.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Microsoft supported this research.
Indigenous-Led Nature-Based Solutions Align Net-Zero Emissions and Biodiversity Targets in Canada
Brazil's genetic treasure trove: supercentenarians reveal secrets of extreme human longevity
Dr. Mayana Zatz and colleagues at the University of São Paulo present ongoing genomic studies of a unique cohort including validated supercentenarians and former holders of world longevity records, among them the current world’s oldest living man (113
Credit: Photo by Adam Jones https://www.flickr.com/photos/adam_jones/3774356146/in/photostream/
SÃO PAULO, SP, BRAZIL, 6 January 2026 -- A Viewpoint published today in Genomic Psychiatry by Dr. Mayana Zatz and colleagues at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, University of São Paulo, examines why Brazil represents one of the most valuable yet underutilized resources for understanding extreme human longevity. The synthesis draws upon the team's ongoing research with a nationwide cohort of long-lived individuals while contextualizing recent advances in supercentenarian biology.
Where Genetic Diversity Meets Exceptional Aging
Why do some humans live beyond 110 years while most never approach the century mark? The question has captivated researchers for decades, yet answers remain frustratingly elusive. Part of the problem, Dr. Zatz and her co-authors argue, lies in where scientists have been looking. Most genomic datasets lack adequate representation of admixed populations, creating blind spots that may obscure precisely the protective mechanisms researchers seek.
"This gap is especially limiting in longevity research, where admixed supercentenarians may harbor unique protective variants invisible in more genetically homogeneous populations," explains Mateus Vidigal de Castro, first author of the Viewpoint and researcher at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center.
Brazil offers something no other nation can match. Beginning with Portuguese colonization in 1500, followed by the forced migration of approximately 4 million enslaved Africans, then waves of European and Japanese immigration, the country developed what the authors describe as the world's richest genetic diversity. A first genomic study of a cohort of over 1000 Brazilians older than 60 revealed 2 million novel genetic variants . More than 2,000 mobile element insertions and over 140 HLA alleles absent from global genomic databases were found among older Brazilians alone. A more recent study identified more than 8 million undescribed genomic variants in the Brazilian population, with over 36,000 putatively deleterious.
The Remarkable Cohort
The research team has assembled something extraordinary. Their longitudinal ongoing study encompasses over 160 centenarians, including 20 validated supercentenarians, distributed across multiple Brazilian regions with heterogeneous social, cultural, and environmental backgrounds. Among the participants was Sister Inah, recognized as the oldest person in the world until her death on 30 April 2025 at age 116. The cohort also included the two oldest men in the world. One died last November, at age 112 while the second one is currently 113 years old.
What distinguishes this population extends beyond mere numbers. At the time of contact with researchers, some Brazilian supercentenarians remained lucid and independent in basic daily activities. Many participants come from underserved regions with limited access to modern healthcare throughout their lives, providing rare opportunity to investigate resilience mechanisms beyond medical intervention.
Familial Clusters Illuminate Heritability
One case stands out with particular clarity. A 110-year-old woman in the cohort has nieces aged 100, 104, and 106 years, representing one of Brazil's longest-lived families ever documented. The oldest one, currently aged 106, was a swimming champion at age 100. Such familial clustering aligns with prior evidence that siblings of centenarians are 5 to 17 times more likely to reach centenarian status themselves.
Can these rare familial constellations help disentangle genetic from epigenetic contributions to extreme longevity? "Investigating such rare familial clusters offers a rare window into the polygenic inheritance of resilience and may help disentangle the genetic and epigenetic contributions to extreme longevity," notes Dr. de Castro.
The Biology of Exceptional Survival
The Viewpoint synthesizes recent findings about what makes supercentenarians biologically distinct. Their peripheral blood lymphocytes maintain proteasomal activity comparable to much younger individuals. Autophagy mechanisms remain functional and upregulated, enabling efficient clearance of misfolded proteins. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses have revealed marked expansion of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells adopting transcriptional programs typically associated with CD8+ lymphocytes, a profile virtually absent in younger controls.
Recent multi-omics analysis of a 116-year-old American-Spanish supercentenarian revealed exclusive or rare variants in key immune-related genes including HLA-DQB1, HLA-DRB5, and IL7R, alongside variants in genes associated with proteostasis and genomic stability. The authors suggest immune aging in supercentenarians should not be viewed as generalized decline but rather as differential adaptation, functional resilience rather than deterioration. Interestingly differently from the American-Spanish super old woman, who followed a mediterranean diet , the Brazilian supercentenarians refer no food restriction .
Surviving COVID-19 Before Vaccines Existed
Perhaps the most striking demonstration of biological resilience came during the pandemic. Three Brazilian supercentenarians in the cohort survived COVID-19 in 2020, before any vaccination was available. Immunology assays revealed these individuals displayed robust levels of IgG and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, alongside plasma proteins and metabolites related to innate immune response and host defense.
How did individuals exceeding 110 years of age mount effective immune responses against a novel pathogen that killed millions of younger people worldwide? The convergence of robust immune cell function, preserved protein maintenance systems, and systemic physiological integrity makes supercentenarians an exceptional model for studying biological resilience.
Brazil's Global Position in Longevity
The statistics are remarkable. Three of the 10 longest-lived validated male supercentenarians in the world are Brazilian, including the oldest living man, born on 5 October 1912. This achievement gains significance considering that extreme male longevity is substantially less common than female longevity, attributed to factors including higher comorbidity burden, increased cardiovascular risk, and hormonal and immunological differences. Access to validated samples of female and male supercentenarians who lacked access to modern medicine provides rare scientific opportunity to investigate resilience factors in a typically underrepresented group.
Among women, Brazilian female supercentenarians in the top 15 longest-lived worldwide surpass numbers from more populous and developed countries, including the United States.
The Research Agenda
Beyond whole-genome sequencing, the team is deriving cellular lineages from selected individuals for downstream functional assays and multi-omics analyses. The goal extends beyond validating findings from non-admixed cohorts. They aim to uncover novel protective variants and mechanisms specific to the Brazilian population, discoveries that may contribute to precision medicine approaches globally relevant yet locally tailored to diverse populations. Moreover, in collaboration with the team of Prof. Ana Maria Caetano de Faria from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, they will investigate the immunological profile of this cohort.
The authors issue a direct call to international longevity and genomics consortia: expand recruitment to include ancestrally diverse and admixed populations such as Brazil, or provide financial support for genomic, immunological, and longitudinal studies that deepen scientific insight while enhancing equity in global health research.
Resilience as the Central Theme
Supercentenarians represent far more than examples of extended biological survival. They embody resistance, adaptability, and resilience, precisely the qualities biomedical research must seek to unravel if the goal is not merely extending lifespan but enhancing quality of life in aging populations. Rather than merely surviving to extreme old age, these individuals actively resist the hallmarks of aging, offering insights that could reshape understanding of longevity and inform future interventions to extend health span.
"International longevity and genomics consortia should expand recruitment to include ancestrally diverse and admixed populations, such as Brazil's, or provide financial support for genomic, immunological, and longitudinal studies that deepen scientific insight and enhance equity in global health research," states Dr. Mayana Zatz, corresponding author and Professor at the University of São Paulo.
This Viewpoint article represents a critical synthesis of current knowledge regarding supercentenarian biology and the unique opportunities presented by Brazil's admixed population for advancing longevity research. By integrating findings from genomic, immunological, and clinical studies with description of an exceptional ongoing cohort, the authors offer both scientific framework and compelling case for diversifying longevity research beyond traditionally studied populations. The synthesis highlights patterns invisible in studies limited to genetically homogeneous groups while identifying the most promising avenues for understanding how some humans achieve extraordinary lifespans while remaining functional and resilient.
The peer-reviewed Viewpoint in Genomic Psychiatry titled "Insights from Brazilian supercentenarians," is freely available via Open Access, starting on 6 January 2026 in Genomic Psychiatry at the following hyperlink: https://doi.org/10.61373/gp026v.0009.
About Genomic Psychiatry: Genomic Psychiatry: Advancing Science from Genes to Society (ISSN: 2997-2388, online and 2997-254X, print) represents a paradigm shift in genetics journals by interweaving advances in genomics and genetics with progress in all other areas of contemporary psychiatry. Genomic Psychiatry publishes peer-reviewed medical research articles of the highest quality from any area within the continuum that goes from genes and molecules to neuroscience, clinical psychiatry, and public health.
Scientists discover molecular ‘reshuffle’ and crack an 80-year-old conundrum
Researchers at the University of St Andrews have uncovered a long‑elusive molecular ‘reshuffle,’ a breakthrough that tackles one of chemistry’s most persistent challenges and could transform the way medicines are manufactured.
In a paper published today (6th January) in Nature Chemistry, researchers from the School of Chemistry have found a key to unlocking an 80-year-old chemical puzzle, which could have important ramifications for fine chemical processes like those involved in the manufacture of medicines.
Chiral molecules are asymmetric or non-superimposable on their mirror image. Each side is different, existing in “right hand” and “left hand” forms. Often only one of these “handed” forms has the desired chemical or biological activity, while the other may have unwanted side effects.
Using a combination of lab experiments and quantum chemistry calculations, researchers have now discovered a new way to control the handedness of a notoriously difficult chemical process, known as the ‘[1,2]-Wittig rearrangement’ that will impact on how scientists design selective chemical reactions, such as those used in pharmaceutical production or advanced materials.
First discovered over 80 years ago, this process selectively reorganizes atoms within a molecule but was traditionally considered too unpredictable to control, making it almost impossible to use.
However, researchers from St Andrews working alongside colleagues at the University of Bath, discovered that a catalyst first steers the molecule through an initial asymmetric rearrangement that sets its ‘handedness’, that is followed by a previously unrecognized molecular reshuffle that maintains molecular chirality.
Lead author of the paper, Professor Andrew Smith from the University of St Andrews, said: “This discovery represents a fundamental shift in how we understand and control stereochemistry in rearrangement reactions.”
Co-lead Dr Matthew Grayson from the University of Bath, added: “Our findings open the door to new asymmetric transformations based on mechanistic pathways that chemists previously dismissed as inaccessible.”
This discovery will pave the way for faster, cleaner, and more selective ways to make complex molecules of a single handedness, with applications ranging from new drugs to advanced materials.
