Hair Color

Genetic Therapy, Inc., a Gaithersburg biotechnology company, said yesterday that it has obtained exclusive rights to a gene that may be useful in treating cancer.If the gene proves effective and safe in drug tests, the company would be able to sell a treatment for cancer that would include the gene and a system for getting it into the body.The company signed an agreement yesterday with Cistron Biotechnology Inc. of Pine Brook, N.J., which has a patent to Interleukin-1 beta.Genetic Therapy will make an undisclosed payment to Cistron immediately as well as future royalty payments.

CancerOur sun is now in a constellation of stars called Cancer. Cancer is the Latin word for crab. But what does that have to do with the disease that has the same name?Cancer tumors sometimes have tangles of veins around them. Ancient doctors thought they looked like the tangled legs of a crab and named the disease cancer.Game Show of LifeCrabs have the same number of legs as:A - insectsB - spidersC - Barbra Streisand times 4D - 2 cowsE - the RockettesAnswer: Crabs look a lot like spiders that can live underwater.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - One inch equals $789 a year, which is bad news for short people. An analysis of data on the pay of tall and short people found that height means a heftier paycheck, reports University of Florida management professor Timothy Judge. "Height matters in career success," Judge said. "These findings are troubling in that, with a few exceptions such as professional basketball, no one could argue that height is an essential ability required for job performance or a bona fide occupational qualification."

Voters in Takoma Park last week narrowly approved a referendum calling for the extension of municipal voting rights to non-citizens. Sometimes derided as "Berkeley East," Takoma Park has a history of trendy gestures. It has proclaimed itself a nuclear-free zone and a sanctuary for Central American refugees. Now it has declared that aliens, legal or not, shouldn't be discriminated against just for not being American.That sounds noble, and furthermore appears at first sight to rest upon a principle as old as the Republic -- no taxation without representation.

Micki Mez's clay caricatures create laughsJust by the name, you'd expect Micki Mez to have a sense of humor.She doesn't disappoint -- and neither do her "caricatures in clay."Whether they're wearing a wry smile or quizzical scowl, eyeglasses or plaid shirts, the witty pieces reveal both the talent and personality of the artist."I never wanted my house to be grown-up serious. This was always my way of resisting that," says the 41-year-old mother of two.When she had filled the tabletops of her Owings Mills home, Ms. Mez decided it was time to get serious.

The bleach only stung a little. The dryer made him break into a sweat. And he wasn't quite sure what he would see once the job was done. After getting a very small taste of the punishments many women undergo regularly in the name of good hair, newly blond Alex Beitel, 14, catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, jumps slightly and proclaims: "Whoa!" The former brunet breaks into a huge smile and runs his hands through his spiky rock star-esque 'do. "I think it looks cool," he says.

The Great Recession is not only bringing hardship for millions of Americans but is widening the divide between two broad types of men and masculinity. If you want a window on how economic hard times — not only since 2008 but as inequality has grown during recent decades — has affected manhood, take a look at two movies: "Up in the Air" and "Capitalism: A Love Story." In the first, George Clooney is literally atop the world, well dressed, well paid, slickly sophisticated, and courtier of the equally upscale and driven Vera Farmiga.

On the night of her company's holiday party three years ago, Amy Strong's date called her to cancel. Just hours before the biggest party of the year for the staff of Union Memorial Hospital, she was left dateless and wearing a new dress. Instead of sitting at home and feeling sorry for herself, Amy went solo to the event at the Belvedere in Baltimore. "I figured I would just go for the dinner, and leave before the dancing started," she said. Toward the end of dinner the band began to play and Amy felt a tap on her shoulder.

In Baltimore City Links investigated between killings on Carroll Street Victims of fatal shootings in the Pigtown section of southern Baltimore were identified yesterday by police, who said they are investigating whether the incidents were related. Jermaine Wallace, 22, of the 1500 block of Edmondson Ave. was shot about 11: 30 p.m. Monday in the 1200 block of Carroll St. and died early Tuesday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said Sgt. Fred Bealefeld of the homicide squad.

BEING UP FRONT with the public doesn't mean you have to expose your vital, personal statistics to everyone. That should be clear to the Howard County government and county taxpayers.There is no reason that a county employee must disclose his date of birth, height, weight and Social Security number on a photo ID card for all to see. The inclusion of all that data on ID cards county employees were made to wear was an insensitive overreaction by officials to security concerns following the Oklahoma City bombing.