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Laboratory. Two peptide chains are attached to a segment of
double-stranded DNA; Producing antibodies suitable for research
however, has often been a difficult, costly and laborious
undertaking. Now, John Chaput and his colleagues at Arizona
State University (ASU) have developed a new way of producing
antibody-like binding agents and rapidly optimizing their
affinity for their target proteins. Such capture reagents are
vital for revealing the subtleties of protein function, and may
pave the way for improved methods of detecting and treating a
broad range of diseases. Antibodies are Y-shaped structures,
capable of binding in two or more places with specific target
proteins. Synthetic antibodies are much simpler forms that
attempt to mimic this behavior. As Chaput explains, creating
affinity reagents with strong binding properties can be
accomplished by combining two weak affinity segments on a
synthetic scaffold. The resulting affinity reagent, if properly