no way to verify that every particle within a vat was raised to the peak temperature and that pasteurization might not eliminate all of the bacteria in the milk being treated. Adenovirus and oncogenes While trying to grow common cold viruses, he and his colleague Dr. Wallace Rowe first tried to use adenoid and tonsil tissue, before using a culture based on tumor cells. From that culture they isolated cytomegalovirus, as well as the first of a large family of adenoviruses. Dr. Robert M. Chanock said the discovery "put him up there with Sabin" (creator of the oral polio vaccine) as one of the "great moments in virology". Based on their observations, Huebner and Rowe hypothesized that these viruses could trigger an unknown gene that would cause cells to grow out of control. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' in 1969, Huebner advanced his theory that oncogenes, then only a hypothetical construct, could cause normal cells to mutate and become cancerous. A specific gene matching the theorized description was discovered and led to the development of treatments for cancer and other diseases. In contrast to medical wisdom in the 1960s and 1970s, Huebner was confident that viruses were a cause of cancer in humans and convinced the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare to provide $60 million in grants to fund research on the connection as part of the War on Cancer. This led to the discovery of the role that cytomegalovirus plays in opportunistic infections in patients with immunodeficiency. Research on retroviruses led to the development of a vaccine for hepatitis B, which has led to major decreases in rates of liver cancer, rates of some viral cancers, like that of the liver, have been sharply reduced. He took a position in 1968 as chief of the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, staying there until his retirement in 1982. Awards and recognition President of the United States Richard Nixon presented Huebner with the National Medal of Science at a White House dinner held on February 16, 1970, recognizing his "contributions to the modern understanding of the biology of viruses and their role in the induction of diverse diseases." He was also inducted into and participated actively in the United States National Academy of Sciences. He also received the Rockefeller Public Service Award. Personal He bought a farm for