How Polyclonal Antibodies Are Produced

How Polyclonal Antibodies Are Produced 

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Early detection is very crucial in the management of many diseases and infections. Advanced technologies have skyrocketed in the medical world to pick out a specific indicator of an illness. One of these MedTech inventions is the production of polyclonal antibodies.  
 

Unlike monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) are a population of immunoglobulin molecules from multiple B cell lineages. Therefore, each antibody in this group reacts to a different site of the same virus, bacteria, or another molecule, collectively called antigens or pathogens.  
 

A better improvement in polyclonal antibody production is the custom antibody production that involves generating antibodies from the adaptive immune system in response to specific offending pathogens. These antibodies have a lock and key recognition pattern for the pathogens in question, making it easier to detect an infection. 

Polyclonal antibody production is cheaper, quicker, and more convenient and involves a few steps. 

Production Of Polyclonal Antibodies 

To generate polyclonal antibodies, an animal receives an antigenic injection that will trigger the immune system to release antibodies to fight the pathogen. The antibodies produced are then harvested, prepared, and stored for other purposes. There are five primary steps in the generation of polyclonal antibodies, and these include: 
 

Antigen Preparation