from SAFC global

I just saw that the most recent issue of Science is highlighting a favorite topic of mine, antibody-mediated therapy and B cell biology. I’ve done work in both of these (related) fields in the past and remain an advocate of antibody-tageting of therapies using drug conjugates (e.g. trastuzumab–DM1) or initiating cell-specific effects simply by binding (e.g. anti-CD20). 

In the early 20th century, Paul Ehrlich coined the phrase “magische Kugel,” to describe antibodies as ‘magical’ proteins which could unerringly home in on targets to do a variety of things. Today, we can paint tumors with antibody conjugated with fluorescent dyes, deliver toxic chemicals to cells we wish to eliminate or simply activate / deactivate cells through targeting of receptor proteins.

I’m eager to get my hands on this issue and see what’s new (if anything) in the field and what products are currently in the pipeline of various biotech companies. 

(I’m suddenly struck anew with the misery of not having access to Nature and other journals I’ve always had handy. I’m so glad I at least still have Science! )