Stephen Cuskey; Research Biologist Worked on Toxic Wastes

Research microbiologist Stephen Cuskey, 36, who developed so-called suicide genes that self-destruct after making toxic wastes decompose. Cuskey worked at the Environmental Protection Agency Research Laboratory at Pensacola Beach, Fla. The laboratory specializes in the study of toxins and gene splicing and supervised the use of fertilizer to speed the growth of oil-eating bacteria to help clean up the Alaskan oil spill last year. In Pensacola on Thursday of a pancreatic infection.