Scientists from the Center for Self-assembly and Complexity (CSC) successfully isolated a cancer-prone protein by fishing out the proteins using ‘molecular bait’. Cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, affects 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women, with prostate and breast cancer the most common types afflicting adults. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are an important family of proteins that regulate gene expression; an altered expression or mutations of genes that encode HDACs can induce tumors to develop. Therefore HDACs are among the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment and they have inspired researchers to study and develop HDAC inhibitors. Inhibition of proteins involved in disease is an important strategy in the development of a drug. For example, an anti-cancer drug (SAHA) slows down cancer progression by inhibiting HDAC, which causes the cells to stop reproducing.