Production of Polyclonal Antibodies

Polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) remain a widely utilized tool in research and diagnostics. They identify specific antigens, principally protein antigens, and are used in Western blots, radioimmune assays (RIAs), enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays (ELISAs), indirect and direct fluorescent antibody test, hemaglutination tests, immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunoprecipitation (IP) assays, immunodiffusion, affinity chromatography, enzymology, and isolation of gene products. Their use is so widespread that there are well over 100 biotech companies that specialize in the production of polyclonal antibodies.