This is a new technique for me, very interesting! Genentech... borrowed a concept used in cancer treatment, in which an antibody — a protein designed to attach

This is a new technique for me, very interesting! Genentech... borrowed a concept used in cancer treatment, in which an antibody — a protein designed to attach to particular cells — is connected to a cancer-fighting drug. Sanjeev Mariathasan, an immunologist at Genentech, and a large team of co-workers adapted this strategy — which they tested in mouse cells — by gluing an antibody against Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) bacteria to an antibiotic, a modified version of the drug rifampin, which is used to treat tuberculosis They start with two ineffective drugs, an antibody that needs to be used in very localised locations to work (like inside a cell), and an antibiotic that can bind to the bacteria in any location in the body but is not effective at killing the bacteria by itself. They glue these two together in a way that still enables the antibiotic to bind to the bacteria and travel along with it wherever it goes. Once the entire group enters a cell, enzymes within the cell break the connection between antibiotic and antibody, releasing the antibody into an environment that it is effective within. Extremely interesting stuff, hopefully they have success applying it to the relevant cells etc in humans.