Science

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Earlier this year, Alan Rein, Ph.D., and Zhi-Ming (Thomas) Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., were elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). They were among 88 microbiologists who were elected to the academy “through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology,” according to the society’s website.

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer

Antibody domains are emerging as promising biopharmaceuticals because of their relatively small size compared to full-sized antibodies, which are too large to effectively penetrate tumors and bind to sterically restricted therapeutic targets.

In an article published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Tianlei Ying, Ph.D., Dimiter Dimitrov, Ph.D., and their colleagues in the Protein Interactions Group, Cancer and Inflammation Program, Center for Cancer Research, reported their design of a novel antibody domain, monomeric CH3 (mCH3).

By Frank Blanchard, Staff Writer, and Jeff Lifson, Guest Writer

In a research milestone reported in the June 20 issue of the journal Science, scientists have developed a minimally modified version of HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS in infected humans, that is capable of causing progressive infection and AIDS in monkeys. The advance should help create more authentic animal models of the disease and provide a potentially invaluable approach for faster and better preclinical evaluation of new drugs and vaccines.

By Andrea Frydl, Contributing Writer

In a recent article published in the Journal of Virology, Tianlei Ying, Ph.D., Dimiter Dimitrov, Ph.D., and their colleagues in the Laboratory of Experimental Immunology (LEI), Cancer and Inflammation Program, NCI Center for Cancer Research, reported the identification of three human monoclonal antibodies (m336, m337, and m338) that target the part of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is responsible for binding to its receptor. These antibodies are exceptionally potent inhibitors of MERS-CoV infection and also provide a basis for creating a future MERS-CoV vaccine.

By Anne Arthur, Guest Writer

The Second Annual David Derse Memorial Lecture and Award presentation was held on November 12, 2013, at the NCI at Frederick Conference Center to honor David Derse’s outstanding research accomplishments and to stimulate the exchange of innovative ideas that Derse was well known for promoting throughout his scientific career.

The Annual David Derse Memorial Lecture and Award is sponsored by the HIV Drug Resistance Program, with support from Hye Kyung Chung-Derse, Ph.D., the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and colleagues and friends of Derse who contributed to the memorial fund in his honor.

The NCI at Frederick Office of Scientific Operations and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) have just released seven informational videos describing the people and mission of FNLCR.

Each of the videos covers a different aspect of FNLCR, from showcasing how the Biopharmaceutical Development Program responds to new challenges in drug development to the new mission of accelerating progress against gene mutations that account for one-third of all cancers.