Gene

They don't make many power couples like this: He's a self-proclaimed whistle blower, the focus of international headlines and Obama administration ire. She describes herself as a "world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero. " Edward Snowden and Lindsay Mills lived in a modest blue clapboard house with white trim here in a Honolulu suburb until about six weeks ago. Their former neighbors described them as quiet and private. On Sunday, Snowden announced that he was responsible for leaking secrets about America's telephone and Internet surveillance pograms to the media, reviving a global debate about Big Brother-style government surveillance of private citizens.

Kiss rocker Gene Simmons and actress/model wife Shannon Tweed caused quite a stir at Preakness 2013 when the two stopped by the Christine A. Moore Millinery tent in the corporate village of Pimlico Race Track. Dozens of onlookers watched and snapped photos as the two combed through Moore's collection of colorful creations. After Tweed tried on a number of hats from the New York-based designer, she settled on the Thrill hat, a wide-brim sheer pink hat topped with a long feather. The hat cost a pretty penny: $900.

Researchers hailed the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans the patenting of human DNA, saying it would expand access to genetic testing for disease at lower cost to patients. In a unanimous decision, the justices said Myriad Genetics did not have exclusive rights to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes that are linked to significantly greater risk for breast cancer and thus should not be the only company allowed to test for it. "Myriad did not create anything," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for his fellow justices.

"Mom. Do you have that gene? Do I? Have you been tested? I thought Grandma had breast cancer . Why weren't you ever tested?" The questions from my 27-year-old daughter were coming fast. Angelina Jolie published an essay in The New York Times on Tuesday, saying that she had had both breasts removed, and then reconstructed, after learning that she carried the mutated gene that can predispose women to breast and ovarian cancer. And Jessie was on the phone to me. Family history had moved the actress to get tested.

NEW ORLEANS -- Alabama coach Gene Stallings said yesterday that the school is investigating an allegation by former Crimson Tide running back Gene Jelks that a businessman in his hometown co-signed a $13,000 loan during his senior season.In a published report Saturday, Jelks also said Harold Simmons, a businessman from Gadsden, Ala., paid two other ex-Alabama players, Stacy Harrison and Clyde Goode, to appear as grand marshals in a 1991 Christmas parade.Those are Jelks' first allegations of wrongdoing involving Alabama players since the arrival of Stallings and his staff at Alabama in 1990.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University and the Shriners Hospital in Portland, Ore., have identified the gene responsible for Marfan syndrome, a discovery that has spawned a test capable of diagnosing the disorder before deadly symptoms appear.A cure might still be many years off, but the discovery could save lives, since it offers patients the chance of diagnosis early in life and treatment -- such as drugs or surgery -- to prevent or delay fatal complications.Within a year, scientists predict, a prospective parent whose family has been plagued by Marfan will be able to get a prenatal diagnosis.

GENE MARVEL passed away on June 25, 2005. Her graveside services will be held on September 24 at 1 P.M. at Gardens of Faith Cemetery at 5598 Trumps Mill Road, where her ashes will be buried between her husband and her mother. The funeral services will be on Sunday at 1 P.M. at Evangel Cathedral at 7000A Rossville Blvd. Join us in this celebration of Gene's life.

On July 5, 2006, GENE FOWLER; beloved husband of Margaret A. Fowler (nee Hood); devoted father of Troy E. Fowler, Tammy M. Bradford and Tracey G. Fowler. Also survived by six grandchildren, one great-grandchild to be and many nieces and nephews. Funeral Service will be held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Essex, 300 Mace Avenue on Saturday, 7:30 pm. Visiting hours, Friday and Saturday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9pm. Interment private.

On Sunday, November 6, 2005, GENE PLOTT, devoted husband of Sandy Plott, father of Sarah Plott, son of Mary Plott-Porter and brother of David Plott. He loved to fish and enjoyed life to its fullest. Memorial Service at Orems United Methodist Church, 1020 Orems Rd. on Wednesday, November 9th at 4 P.M. in lieu of flowers, those desiring may make memorial contributions in his name to Orems United Methodist Church, 1020 Orems Rd., Middle River, MD 21220.

On Friday December 19, 2003, GENE BUDOWSKI, beloved husband of Nancy Budowski; father of Terrie Smentek, Sherrie Read, Leslie Perreten, Harlan, Michael and Patrick Budowski; father-in-law of Scott Smentek, Billy Read,, Todd Perreten, Anne and Susan Budowski; brother of Michael Budowski, JaneSieczkarek and Florence Andrzejewski. Also survived by 10 grandchildren. Friends may call at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 515 Loch Haven Rd., Edgewater, MD., on Tuesday December 23, from 10 A.M. until Mass of Christian Burial begins at 11 A.M. Interment private.

Baltimore County police and fire personnel throughout the region are participating today in the funeral for Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Department member Gene Kirchner, who died Thursday of injuries he suffered in a fire last week in Reisterstown. The funeral was held beginning at 1 p.m., at Har Sinai Congregation, on Walnut Avenue in Owings Mills. County police say Walnut Avenue was closed between Greenspring Avenue and Park Heights Avenue beginning at 11:30 a.m., and will reopen when the procession has left Har Sinai.

A volunteer firefighter who joined the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company as a teenager more than a decade ago died Thursday of injuries sustained in a fire last week that also killed another man. Gene Kirchner, 25, died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, officials said. "Everybody is extremely shocked by this," said Craig Hewitt, assistant chief of the fire company. "They're missing Gene right now. He was a very key part of our fire company, and he will be greatly missed. " Kirchner was one of the first firefighters to respond to the house fire on Hanover Road early on the morning of April 24. He tried to save a man trapped inside, officials said.

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. - Louis D. Brandeis Just a few words and little thought separate yet another stronghold of the American economy from ruin. It doesn't have to be that way. The U.S. patent system has made America's biotech and pharmaceutical industries the envy of the world. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case posing the question: "Are human genes patentable?"

BOSTON -- As athletes get ready for the 117th running of the Boston Marathon today, many will have mantras. One of my favorites, from septuagenarian marathoner Malcolm Brookes is "I can, I will, I am," but another popular one is "you were born for this. " A group of British scientists wanted to check that out, testing whether a genetic switch associated with obesity had any effect on a person's likelihood of becoming a high-level distance athlete. What they found -- published in the journal PLOS One this month -- was that any link between the FTO A/T polymorphism and a would-be-elite endurance athlete's hopes of a boffo career were statistically insignificant.

Capitals Backstrom seeing specialist for neck injury Nicklas Backstrom is visiting a specialist in Michigan after suffering a neck injury while playing in the Kontinental Hockey League during the lockout, a Washington Capitals spokesman confirmed. Backstrom has not played since suffering the injury Dec.26 in a game with Dynamo Moscow. The Swedish center returned to North America on Sunday and was at the Capitals' training facility in Arlington, Va., on Monday, but has since traveled to Michigan.

Every time a woman is tested for gene mutations linked to significantly higher rates of breast and ovarian cancer, her blood is sent to a lab in Utah. That's because Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc. owns the patents to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutations, giving it control over all research and testing done nationwide. The company charges thousands of dollars for each set of results. The patents have become the subject of a legal fight that could soon head to the U.S. Supreme Court and have sparked a broader discussion about the fast-evolving field of genomics and so-called personalized medicine, in which treatments are tailored based on a patient's genetic makeup.

Gene Ward Meekins Jr., a banker who enjoyed sport fishing, died of cancer Monday at his Ellicott City home. He was 57. Born and raised in Catonsville, he was a 1971 Catonsville High School graduate and played football for its team. He earned a business degree at what is now Towson University. Mr. Meekins was a branch manager for Edmondson Federal Savings and Loan in Catonsville and was a senior vice president and commercial lender for SunTrust Bank. He worked for SunTrust's not-for-profit division in Washington.

On March 3, 2008, GENE D. MCCORMICK; beloved husband of Elizabeth Ocus McCormick (nee Copper); father of the late Daryll J. McCormick; stepfather of Warren, Gene, Joel, and Todd Ocus; grandfather of Katie Owens, Aaron R. McCormick, Elizabeth and Todd Ocus, Jr. Interment private. Arrangements by Daugherty Family Funeral Home and Cremation Center, P.A., in Pasadena.

Gene Cassidy thought he was lucky to survive being shot in the head twice 25 years ago when he was a Baltimore policeman, so a second near-death ordeal recently seemed unreal. Just 27 years old, Cassidy lost his sight after a man he was trying to arrest on an assault warrant fired at him. The shooting, and his survival, made Cassidy a legend in Baltimore police ranks and became fodder for "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets," the book by David Simon, and later a TV series, about crime in Baltimore.

Johns Hopkins University adjunct biology professor Donald Brown has won the 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science for his work in genetics, as well as mentoring young scientists. He is the sixth Hopkins faculty member to win the prestigious award for basic and clinical research. Brown, who also is director emeritus of the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Embryology, was recognized for work he and others did in gene amplification, one process that is responsible for runaway growth of chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells.