Antibodies, the body's own biosensors, recognize and bind to foreign molecules with astonishing precision. Antibodies are incorporated in many medical diagnostic tests, but researchers have long hoped for ways to make cheap and long-lasting artificial antibodies-synthetic molecules which, when added to a patient's blood sample, would detect and latch onto specific disease markers just as effectively as natural antibodies. New work on polymer structures that mimic the binding action of natural antibodies may be bringing scientists a step closer to that goal.

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