Credit: Dmitry Ghilarov/Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and David Lawson/John Innes Centre
In this depiction of a "molecular pencil sharpener," the pentagons are chemicals that make a "warhead" toxic once it is "sharpened" by Tld – bacterial proteins. The proteins are inactive until a "leader" – the pencil wood surrounding the graphite in this portrayal – is removed. The wood shavings inside the sharpener are the remains of the leader being chopped up by the proteins, releasing a powerful antibiotic that kills E. coli bacteria.