Newly engineered molecules doom proteins with kiss of death

Like mobsters following strict orders, newly engineered molecules called "ubiquibodies" can mark specific proteins inside a cell for destruction -- a molecular kiss of death that is paving the way for new drug therapies and powerful research tools. For instance, in a cancer cell in which a certain protein has been identified as contributing to the disease, the ubiquibody could reduce or eliminate the protein from within by targeting that specific protein only, the authors suggest.