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Jun. 18, 2010
Building Up The Immune System -- In Plastic
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| Researchers have made plastic nanoparticles that can partially mimic the behavior of natural antibodies in the bloodstream of a living animal. Writing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they describe their experiment, in which they treated lab mice with synthetic polymer 'antibodies' to the compound melittin, the main toxin in bee venom. Antibody-treated mice had higher rates of survival than non-treated mice when injected with the melittin toxin. We'll talk with one of the authors of the paper about the work. |
Produced by Annette Heist, Senior Producer
Guests
-
Kenneth Shea
Professor, Chemistry
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California
FEATURED READING
Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction
by Annalee Newitz
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