Brazilian Team Finds Clue to Congenital Zika Syndrome

02/28/2018 - 13H50

Soon after the Zika epidemic broke out in Brazil, Mayana Zatz - an acclaimed geneticist who,
for the preceding four decades had been tracking rare genetic disorders that destroy muscles
- received a surprise phone call from the scientific director of a research foundation in São
Paulo.
Carlos de Brito Cruz told her Brazil was in a crisis and asked if she could contribute in any
way.
It was 2015, and scientists were trying to establish a link between the Zika virus - usually a
mild condition that can cause flu-like symptoms - and a horrifying birth defect called
microcephaly in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.
The affected children also face a lifetime of mental disabilities, seizures, as well as hearing
and sight problems.
Prof Zatz's first thought was: "I am not an infectologist, I have nothing to do with this."
Over the years, she and her team at the Human Genome Research Centre had helped close
to 30,000 patients, after identifying genes responsible for muscular dystrophies, mainly
neuromuscular.
"But [after hearing more about the birth defects] this caught my eye right away because only
a small percentage was suffering from it."
She immediately began to wonder whether there was a genetic component to the condition,
so she rounded up her team and started looking for twins in Brazil's worst-affected areas.
"What interests us very much is what protects some people from the effects of mutation,"
says Prof Zatz, a larger-than-life 70-year-old, who has won accolades for her work as a
scientist.
Despite her scientific achievements, this new assignment was very different to the work she
had been doing before.
"This was completely out of her scope of action, she has never worked specifically with
virology, but her acumen on this was incredible," says Ernesto da Silveira, a biological
engineer who is a member of her team in the Zika project.
ANDRES SCHIPANI
"FINANCIAL TIMES"
Acessado em 31/05/18,
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2018/02/1958499-
brazilian-team-finds-clue-to-congenital-zika-syndrome.shtml

1. O que fez a geneticista achar que poderia contribuir com a pesquisa sobre o Zika virus?
a) “...and a horrifying birth defect called microcephaly in which babies are born with
abnormally small heads.’’
b) "But [after hearing more about the birth defects] this caught my eye right away because
only a small percentage was suffering from it."
c) “The affected children also face a lifetime of mental disabilities, seizures, as well as
hearing and sight problems.’’
d) “It was 2015, and scientists were trying to establish a link between the Zika virus - usually
a mild condition that can cause flu-like symptoms…’’
e) “Despite her scientific achievements, this new assignment was very different to the work
she had been doing before.”
2.

Porquê o Calvin desistiu de comer o peixe?

a) Ele caiu na real e viu que realmente não gosta de comer peixe.
b) Ele mesmo queria preparar o peixe, mas seu pai não deixou.
c) Viu o que deveria ser feito antes de comer o peixe e desistiu de comê-lo.
d) Preferiu comer o sanduiche por que seu pai colocou o peixe na água novamente.
e) Sua mãe não deixou que ele comesse o peixe.

3. (CEFET PR) “While typical wastewater treatment plants don’t eliminate the drugs,
activated charcoal filtration does.”
The best translation for the underlined word in the sentence above is:
a) indústrias.
b) plantas.
c) projetos.
d) usinas.
e) mapeamentos.

‘’After nearly three years in the music industry, Marília Mendonça has become the
most popular artist on YouTube in Brazil, as her channel has accumulated over 3.6 billion
views ever since she released her first video in 2013. She currently gets an average of 7.1
million views every 48 hours.’’
Acessado em 31/05/2018, https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/culture/2017/12/1944476-at-
age-22-marilia-mendonca-becomes-brazils-most-popular-artist.shtml
4. As palavras em destaque no texto respectivamente significam:
a) acumulado, liberado, média.
b) estipulado, solto, média.
c) acumulado, realizado, aumentado.
d) estipulado, liberado, aumentado.
e) acumulado, liberado, média.
5.

A tira, definida como um segmento de história em quadrinhos, pode transmitir uma

mensagem com efeito de humor. A presença desse efeito no diálogo entre Jon e Garfield
acontece porque:
A) Jon pensa que sua ex-namorada é maluca e que Garfield não sabia disso.
B) Jodell é a única namorada maluca que Jon teve, e Garfield acha isso estranho.
C) Garfield tem certeza de que a ex-namorada de Jon é sensata, o maluco é o amigo.
D) Garfield conhece as ex-namoradas de Jon e considera mais de uma como maluca.
E) Jon caracteriza a ex-namorada como maluca e não entende a cara de Garfield.