■UNITED STATES
Cancer-link genes found
Scientists have identified two genetic mutations they believe are linked to the most common types of brain cancer and longer survival times, research published on Wednesday said. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Duke universities discovered variations in the IDH1 and IDH2 genes that are associated with three quarters of the most common types of cancer tumors, known as gliomas. It is hoped the findings can open the way to more successful treatment of the disease. Patients with these types of mutations can survive at least two times longer than those with other genetic variations, said the research, which was published in yesterday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
■UNITED STATES
Man shoots himself in church
A man shot himself to death in front of a cross inside TV evangelist Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral on Wednesday as a group of Canadian visitors was being told about the church’s suicide prevention program. The man entered at about 9:45am, handed a note and his driver’s license to two ushers, walked to the cross and then shot himself in the head as he appeared to be praying, Senior Pastor Juan Carlos Ortiz said. The man used a semiautomatic handgun, police Lieutenant Dennis Ellsworth said. The Orange County coroner’s office identified the man as Steve Smick, 48.
■UNITED STATES
Taro research ban mulled
A permanent ban on any research or alteration of the sacred taro plant is being considered by Hawaii legislators. The House Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a statewide prohibition on development, testing, planting or importation of genetically modified taro. The proposal reopens the debate on how to best protect the crop used to make the starchy food poi. Taro farmers and Native Hawaiians want it to remain pure, but scientists warn that disease could wipe it out unless they take action. “Taro has been grown for 50,000 years and it’s the root of Hawaiian culture,” said Jim Cain, a Waipio Valley taro farmer.
■UNITED STATES
Rourke mourns dead pet
Oscar contender Mickey Rourke forgot about an impending awards show after one of his beloved chihuahuas, Loki, died at the age of 18. Loki was the leader of Rourke’s pack of miniature dogs and his death on Monday came days after Rourke, 56, credited Loki and his other dogs with saving his life by providing companionship when he considered suicide during a protracted lull in his career. “I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so,” Rourke, 56, told US interviewer Barbara Walters ahead of the Oscars. “The wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there,” he said.
■UNITED STATES
Mammoth find in LA
The nearly complete skeleton of a massive Columbian mammoth who died during the last ice age has been dug out of a construction site near the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles, a remarkable find even in the fossil-rich area, scientists said on Wednesday. The mammoth, dubbed “Zed” by researchers at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, likely died in his late 40s some 40,000 years ago and was found near an unprecedented treasure trove of fossils that workers stumbled upon while digging the foundation for an underground parking garage.
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