Summary
Non-technical description Every living cell is surrounded by a very thin membrane barrier that keeps most large and water-soluble molecules out of the cell. The membrane protects the cell, but it also makes it hard to deliver useful cargo molecules, such as drugs, into cells. Short molecules called cell penetrating peptides can sometimes carry cargo across this barrier, but most known examples work inefficiently and tend to trap their cargo inside internal compartments where the cargo cannot do its job. Recently, researchers discovered a new class of peptides that behave differently. These pe