Conceptual illustration of “nanobodies” descending onto a cancerous cell.
Derived from camels and llamas, nanobodies are the smallest fragments of naturally occurring heavy-chain antibodies and may soon be considered as a whole new class of drugs.
Their club-like appendages are radioactive payloads designed to attack specific targets on the cancer cell.
Some are seen here attaching to receptors (pits) on the cell, preventing growth signals (orange) from reaching the cell.
Created for an issue of Scientific American Magazine.
