A Pill That Mimics the Immune System
Synthetic antibodies with the potential to be orally ingested to fight cancer and autoimmune diseases may replace cumbersome intravenous therapeutics
The therapeutic potential of synthetic antibodylike compounds is vast.
Credit: NIAID via Flickr
The human body doesn’t like outsiders. When a foreign pathogen or substance, say an unwanted virus, finds its way into our blood streams we produce antibodies that the neutralize the threat. These “Y”-shaped proteins are made by a class of white blood cells called plasma cells and bind to molecules on the invaders called antigens, triggering another set of white blood cells to literally ingest the interloper. For years now doctors have used antibodies and other protein-based therapies (aka biologics) to treat a range of illnesses, cancers, infections and autoimmune diseases among them.
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