August 19, 2003

Gene therapy is used for first time to treat patient with Parkinson's disease; procedure is performed on 55-year-old man; goal is to relieve tremors, shuffling gait and other abnormal movements caused by the disease; Food and Drug Adm has approved procedure for 12 people with severe Parkinson's; experiment is Phase 1 trial, meaning its main goal is to determine safety, not efficacy; hope is that first subjects will show signs that treatment works; Dr Michael G Kaplitt, who performs procedure on Nathan Klein at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, bores hole through top of Klein's skull, then infuses into brain 3.5 billion viral particles, each bearing copy of human gene meant to help relieve symptoms of Parkinson's; some leading experts in gene therapy and Parkinson's express concern, noting that experiment is going forward without evidence in monkeys that it could work; cite possibility of harm from viruses spreading in brain; photo (M)

Article on magician David Blaine who, in interview, says he has become disillusioned with money, models and movie-star treatment; Blaine describes his latest stunt, in which he will spend 44 days in Plexiglas box suspended over Thames River in London with just one set of clothes, blanket, no food and only water via feeding tube; some of Blaine's previous stunts recalled; photo; diagram (M)

The official overseeing the inquiry into the blackout said the rules governing power transactions were either broken or the rules themselves are inadequate. Page B6.

Massive blackout is latest of FirstEnergy Corp's problems this summer, Market Place column; company acknowledges that alarm system had not been working at time of blackout, but it tries to deflect blame for widespread power failure, saying there were problems in other parts of nation's electrical system before its lines began to fail; North American Electric Reliability Council, group created by utilities to set standards for reducing risks of disruption, was first to call public attention to FirstEnergy's problems, but it agrees with company that problem is more complicated than just one utility; Richard H Marsh, FirstEnergy's chief financial officer, cites company's other problems this summer: blackouts in coastal New Jersey communities over July 4 weekend, federal judge's ruling that company violated Clean Air Act, delays in getting nuclear power plant in Ohio back in operation and decision by its auditors to require it to restate profits over last three years; photos; graph (M)

New York Yankees defeat Kansas City Royals, 11-6; photos (M)