Yang explains that the characteristic of these genes is that they produce a kind of enzyme called protease. When this enzyme encounters a certain kind of drug, which is non-toxic and harmless to healthy cells, it renders that drug toxic so that it kills off the host cell.
楊文光指出，自殺性基因的特性是會產生一種蛋白質酵素，這種酵素一碰到沒有毒性、不會傷及正常細胞的藥劑，就會自動將它轉成具有毒性，殺死自己。