Plastic Antibodies

UC-Irvine chemistry professor Kenneth Shea has lead research in mice studies that shows two different fluorescent imaging probes-one attached to melittin (a protein found in bee venom) and the other to an artificial antibody Shea’s group made, by a process called “molecular imprinting,” to bind with melittin. In real time, they saw the two probes join in vivo and be metabolized through the liver as normal.  The upshot of this is a process for making a new class of inexpensive drugs-“plastic antibodies.”            MORE

Image Credit:  Kenneth Shea and Technology Review