Simple molecular machines have existed for about two decades. Early examples include molecular wheels that could move along an axle, creating a piston-like mechanism. Three pioneers of this work – Fraser Stoddard at Northwestern University in Illinois, Ben Feringga at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and Jean-Pierre Sauvage at the University of Strasbourg, France – were recognized with a Nobel Prize in 2016.
More useful machines are now being made and tested. A few years ago, James Tour at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and his colleagues created a molecular machine that could drill through cell membranes. This allows it to open holes through which drugs could be delivered
Such devices can be built on to create even more sophisticated machines. The potential is huge: after all, living things use biomolecular machines to do many useful jobs. Ribosomes, for example, are biomolecular machines that assemble proteins. They add molecules called amino acids together in specific sequences to create a vast array of amazing materials, from the keratin in fingernails to the disease-busting antibodies of our immune systems.
“Molecular machines are going to change everything in terms of material design"
Engineered immunity: Redesigning antibodies to better fight disease
Antibodies are a vital weapon in our immune system's arsenal. Now we can redesign them like never before to boost our ability to fight cancer and viruses like HIV, says immunologist Daniel M. DavisMenu
Engineered immunity: Redesigning antibodies to better fight diseas
Antibodies are a vital weapon in our immune system's arsenal. Now we can redesign them like never before to boost our ability to fight cancer and viruses like HIV, says immunologist Daniel M. Davi
HEALTH 30 June 20
By Daniel M. Davi
New Scientist Default Ima
Pete Reynold
THE wonders of the world tend to be quite conspicuous. You can hardly miss the Grand Canyon, say, or the Great Pyramid of Giza. You could, however, be forgiven for overlooking the great wonders of human biology. It is easy to take the brain or DNA for granted. And yet over the past year or so, living through the coronavirus pandemic, we have all come to better appreciate the marvel that is our immune system, a vast and diverse array of cells and molecules that defend us against viruses and other invader
One molecule in particular has taken centre stage: the antibody. These Y-shaped proteins, which we produce in response to infection, are a vital part of our defences. They are also the basis of many of the most important medicines. But we haven’t exhausted their potential yet – far from i
Typically, we have used antibodies in medicine pretty much as they come in nature, even if we select and mass-produce the versions we need. Now we can do much more. By manipulating genes in the cells that produce antibodies, or splicing together fragments of the proteins themselves, we can re-engineer their structures to create bespoke immune molecule
In my lab at the University of Manchester, UK, we use super-resolution microscopes to see how the immune system works on a molecular scale. We are just one of thousands of labs doing such work, which is fuelling a new age of antibody engineering. With researchers currently producing all kinds of tailor-made antibodies – from those that lure cancer cells to their doom to those that can actually infiltrate cells …
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