Serious buyers cluster hungrily around the gallery directors, eager to nab their favourite pieces (the more experienced of them employ strategic body-blocking techniques: they hold plastic champagne glasses aloft and to one side, taking up more space and threatening to spill upon their competition).

ECONOMIST: Debating what to covet with unlimited funds

Ichiro brought up one of the catching position's most notorious jobs as reason why his 5-foot-11, 170-pound body wouldn't be suitable: blocking the plate from a charging runner.

WSJ: Those Wacky Yankee Lineups

It is also present in fat cells, and blocking it seems to help the body more efficiently process sugar and fat from food.

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DPP-4 regulates hundreds of hormones in the body, not just GLP-1, and blocking it can have unintended effects on others.

FORBES: Novartis Results Heat Up Diabetes Drug Race

The new drug, called a CETP inhibitor, works by blocking the action of a protein which lowers levels of "good" cholesterol in the body.

BBC: Drug raises 'good' cholesterol

Thalidomide works, in part, by blocking the production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha, a biochemical which promotes inflammation in the body.

ECONOMIST: Thalidomide