SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the frequencies of Epstein-Barr virus, types 1 and 2 infection, and 30 bp del-latent membrane protein 1 viral polymorphism in gastric adenocarcinomas, as well as to investigate the association between Epstein-Barr virus infection and tumor location, type, and the patient's sex. METHODS: Samples were collected from 38 patients treated at a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Epstein-Barr virus detection and genotyping were performed by polymerase chain reaction, followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and staining by the silver nitrate method. RESULTS: Overall, 68.4% of patients had Epstein-Barr virus-positive tumors. Of these, 65.4% presented infection by Epstein-Barr virus type 1, 23.1% by Epstein-Barr virus type 2, and 11.5% had coinfection with types 1 and 2. The 30 bp del-latent membrane protein 1 polymorphism was found in 42.3% of Epstein-Barr virus-positive tumors, 23.1% had the wild-type virus, and 23.1% had the wild-type and the polymorphism concomitantly. In 11.5% of Epstein-Barr virus-positive tumors, it was impossible to determine whether there was polymorphism or not. Tumor location in the antrum (22 of 38) and diffuse type (27 of 38) were predominant. There was no significant difference in Epstein-Barr virus infection or the 30 bp del-latent membrane protein 1 polymorphism between men and women. CONCLUSION: Epstein-Barr virus infection was found in 68.4% of tumors investigated in this study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first article showing the coinfection of Epstein-Barr virus types 1 and 2 in gastric carcinoma in Brazil.

RESUMO Este trabalho apresenta um balanço do debate ocasionado pelas ideias suscitadas nas ciências das plantas com o advento da neurobiologia das plantas, destacando, a partir das tensões geradas entre diferentes grupos de cientistas, os elementos do que Hustak & Myers (2012) chamam de uma “narrativa mais rica”, além do enfoque redutivo da biologia contemporânea sobre células e genes, ou de uma lógica evolucionista neodarwiniana, e com maior atenção ao organismo e seus modos de relação. Uma narrativa que também dê conta da maneira como as plantas se expressam e permita desvelar os emaranhados nos quais plantas e cientistas estão envolvidos. Inspirada nas ideias introduzidas no campo interespecífico pelas etnografias multiespécies, a hipótese que se coloca é a de que essas tensões, sozinhas ou combinadas, sugerem modos de acessar a perspectiva das plantas.

ABSTRACT This paper presents a balance of the debate caused by the ideas raised in plants sciences with the advent of plants neurobiology, highlighting from the tensions generated between different groups of scientists the elements of what Hustak & Myers (2012) call a “richer narrative”, beyond reductive focus of contemporary biology on cells and genes, or a neodarwinian evolutionary logic, and with greater attention to the organism and modes of relation. A narrative that also accounts for the way plants express themselves and reveal the entanglements in which plants and scientists are involved. Inspired by the ideas introduced in the interspecific field by the multispecies ethnography, the hypothesis is that these tensions, alone or in combination, suggest ways of accessing the perspective of the plants.