Antibodies are remarkable biomarkers: they are the cues that provide us with indications about many diseases and how our immune system counter them. Now a group of scientists from the University of Rome, Tor Vergata (Italy) has found a way to repurpose them so that they can trigger a specific chemical reaction.

“We demonstrated a strategy to use specific antibodies to control chemical reactions forming a wide range of molecules, from imaging to therapeutic agents,” says Francesco Ricci, full professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and senior author of the article. “Our approach allows synthesizing a functional molecule from inactive precursors only when a specific antibody is present in the reaction mixture.”