A Paradox and Alan Rein: Distinguished Retrovirologist Retires from the HIV DRP

In 1953, a teenaged Alan Rein read about what James Watson and Francis Crick famously called “the secret of life”—the double-helix structure of DNA, which had just been published in Nature. Captivated, Rein decided at that moment that he wanted to be a biochemist. Rein’s biochemistry aspirations shifted to virology during college, leading him to a 60-year career in the field, the last 45 years of which were spent at NCI Frederick, studying how retroviruses like murine leukemia virus and HIV assemble themselves and infect host cells while somehow evading the immune response.
By Lisa Simpson, staff writer
01.14.2025

In the News

Community | R&W Club Frederick Sews for Kids

Sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels are invited to attend a sewing party hosted by the R&W Club Frederick on Feb. 18. Stop by the Building 549 Café Room between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to sew for a cause: help the club make pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer, a nonprofit organization that supports children in hospitals across the country.
Carolynne Keenan 02.17.2015
Community Recreation and Welfare Club February 2015

Science & Technology | Experimental Lung Cancer Drug Shows Early Promise

A first-of-its-kind drug is showing early promise in attacking certain lung cancers that are hard to treat because they build up resistance to conventional chemotherapy. The drug, CO-1686, performed well in a preclinical study involving xenograft and transgenic mice, as reported in the journal Cancer Discovery. It is now being evaluated for safety and efficacy in Phase I and II clinical trials.
Frank Blanchard 02.13.2015
Science & Technology February 2015

Community | Holiday Door Decorating Contest Brings Cheer

Other than the time of year, what do the following have in common: the leg lamp from the movie “A Christmas Story,” a compilation of silly holiday jokes, a gingerbread house, and Santa on a motorcycle? All four were among the individual door winners for the Holiday Door Decorating Contest, held at NCI at Frederick in December. Employees dressed up their office doors, hallways, and even stairwells to participate.
Carolynne Keenan 02.13.2015
Community Events Recreation and Welfare Club February 2015

Features | Puzzler Solution: Just Making an Observation

It looks like we stumped you. None of the puzzler guesses were correct, but our winner was the closest to getting it right. He guessed it was a sanitary sewer clean-out pipe, and that’s what the photo looks like, according to our source at Facilities Maintenance and Engineering. Please continue reading for the correct puzzler solution.
Ashley DeVine 02.12.2015
Features Poster Puzzler February 2015

Scientific Library | Public Access and Open Access: Is There a Difference?

Open access and public access—are they different concepts or are they the same? What do they mean for the researchers at NCI at Frederick? “Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the Internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder,” according to an open access website maintained by Peter Suber, director, Harvard Open Access Project.
Robin Meckley and Tracie Frederick 02.10.2015
Scientific Library February 2015