Nanobodies
Nanobodies are short chain antibodies, derived from immunising camelids( alpacas and llamas), with a pathogen or protein of interest.
Why have they caused such a stir in the scientific community?
Traditional antibodies are immune molecules produced by an organism upon exposure to a pathogen, to protect against illness. They are large molecules however, so they are very energy intensive to produce and cannot penetrate all tissues.
Nanobodies, however, are comparatively very small molecules, which can penetrate a much wider variety of tissues, and even cross the blood brain barrier.
They can also easily be sequenced, and various organisms, such as bacteria and insects, have been previously engineered to produce nanobodies for therapeutic purposes, with success.