Monoclonal Antibodies: A New Technology for Producing Serologic Reagents

FOR many years antibodies have had a major role in the diagnosis of a wide variety of diseases. Radioimmunoassays and other immunologic assays are now used extensively in diagnostic laboratories to detect and quantitate drugs, bacterial and viral products, tumor antigens, and circulating immunoglobulins. However, immunologic assays have always been plagued by uncertainties that result from the unpredictability and heterogeneity of the immune response. Immunization is still more of an art than a science, and serologists have had to be satisfied with whatever quality and quantity of antibodies an immunized animal will provide. Even when apparently pure antigen is used.