Posts Tagged ‘antibodies’
Ensure Reproducibility: Control for Lot-to-Lot Variation of Antibodies
When starting a long-term experiment, you need to take a lot of things into consideration (availability of cells, reagents, planning time points), but do you ever think about your antibodies? If you buy an antibody from a manufacturer, run out half way through the study, and buy the same antibody again, have you thought about…
Read More11 Reasons Why You Should Use Recombinant Antibodies (rAbs)
Monoclonal antibodies: You’ve probably heard a lot about them. Unsurprisingly, you may have also used them in your research. These antibodies (mAbs) are classically produced by the hybridoma technology pioneered by Köhler and Milstein in 19751: A mouse is immunized with the substance against which you need to produce an antibody. The mouse spleen cells (consisting…
Read MoreHow Good Is Your Best Friend? A.K.A. Have You Validated Your Antibody?
You use your antibody frequently, maybe even every day. You rely on it for western blotting, immunohistochemistry, FACS, ELISA, and immunoprecipitation. You’d be lost without it. But how well do you really know your antibody? Are you sure that it detects what you believe it to detect? If you have the slightest doubt, or if you have…
Read MoreAntibodies 101: Every Body Needs an Anti-Body!
Antibodies are one of the most important tools in molecular biology. Basic researchers use antibodies to identify, locate, isolate and quantify specific proteins. Clinical researchers use antibodies to target a specific drug (such as a chemotherapeutic agent) to a particular cell. Because of the cell specificity provided by the antibody, a higher amount of antibody…
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