UTAH VS. CANCER

Jon Huntsman Sr., a Salt Lake City industrialist who lost both parents to cancer and has survived two bouts himself, has donated $100 million to the University of Utah to study the disease. The gift is believed to be the largest ever to medical research. Health care writer Janice Castro reports that Huntsman, a Mormon, hopes the University can leverage a unique resource of the Church to get at the genetic roots of cancer. "Mormons have the most sophisticated genealogy database in the world right there in Salt Lake City," she says. "For years, they have collected the birth and death records of towns across America. The Huntsman gift will help the University focus on uncovering the genetic basis of cancer by giving it the resources to build a state-of-the-art research center and recruit top scientists. Huntsman hopes that the genealogy data may help delineate patterns of inherited cancer."