by Jun T. Park, PhD, Cheng J. Cao, PhD, Sarah J. Cork, Kevin P. O’Connell, PhD, Darrel E. Menking, Tracy Coliano, and James J. Valdes, PhD
Volume 2, Issue 4 (July/August 2003)
Foreign substances, such as disease-causing viruses and other infectious agents are recognized by the body’s immune system as invaders. Parts of the spectrum of our defenses are antibodies that bind these antigens and direct their destruction by other elements of the immune system. Antibodies have two very useful characteristics. First, they are extremely specific; that is, each antibody binds to one particular antigen. Second, the body retains the memory of encounters with antigens, enabling it to reproduce an antibody response to a later attack by that that same agent or disease. These properties make it possible to develop vaccines. It is the first trait of antibodies, their specificity, which makes monoclonal antibody (MAb) technology so valuable. Not only can antibodies be used therapeutically, to protect against disease, they also can help diagnose a wide variety of illnesses and can detect the presence of infectious agents (including biological threat agent). The use of MAbs specific for biological warfare agents in fielded assays requires maintaining a high-quality and economical supply of these reagents…
Citation:
Park JT, Cao CJ, Cork SJ, O’Connell KP, Menking DE, Coliano T, Valdes JJ. Evaluation of In Vitro Methods for Monoclonal Antibody Production. BioProcess J, 2003; 2(4): 49-56.