Does a binder have to be biological?
In development
Therapeutic antibodies are grown in living cells, and priced accordingly. Binding is physics, so the binder could be made another way.
Therapeutic antibodies can cost tens of thousands of dollars per treatment, largely because they are manufactured in living cells.
What an antibody does is bind: it recognises one molecule among many and holds on. That is a physical interaction, not a uniquely biological one.
MABE designs synthetic binders (aptamers, molecularly imprinted polymers, engineered cyclodextrins) that aim for the same selectivity through designed physics instead of evolved biology. They can be made chemically, which is far less costly.
What is known
Not yet written up here.
What is predicted
Not yet written up here.
What would tell us more
Not yet written up here.