A new perspective on the boom in polyclonal antibodies

Posted by Elite Internet Technologies on December 6th, 2016

It's interesting to think that in the past the study of polyclonal antibodies was a virtual "boutique", barely understood branch of medical science. These days, it's a virtual institution, with massive research programs and breakthroughs happening practically every other day.

The big advance in antibody research is also apparently paralleling the big issues with antibiotics. As antibiotics enter a crisis stage in terms of efficacy, antibodies are now seen as the new frontier in immunology. It's strange to think that even standard products like sheep antibodies, rabbit anti-llama FITC and chicken antibodies were almost unheard-of, less than a generation ago.

There is some justification in this view. Antibodies do offer a huge range of potentials for clinical, pharmaceutical and medical needs. The problem, in fact, is the issue of "too much success". While there’s no doubt that antibodies are achieving great results, the issue of how much hype is involved in this perspective has to be addressed.

It's fair to say that hype is a natural result of any significant level of publicity. You can hardly avoid it. Whether that hype is out of proportion or not, it is at least drawing attention to new research, and attracting interest.

The other side of the equation, of course, is whether or not the hype is misleading. It's not uncommon for "popular science" to turn into a cheerleading exercise. That's not really good enough in this case. The problems posed by emerging diseases are unlikely to be solved by what is basically advertising rather than substantive information.

The usual story in these cases is that when expectations exceed achievements, the cheerleading goes into reverse. Just as antibiotics were the wonder drugs of the 1950s, antibodies risk the same problems caused by lack of understanding of scientific realities.

If researchers are understandably wary of hype, particularly with complex issues like custom antibody development, it's probably the more realistic long-term approach to their work. While this science is truly exciting, innovative, and productive, expectations aren't facts.

A company like Capralogics, a leading US supplier of polyclonal antibody products, may hold the clues to the future. This company also act as a facilitator for enabling research with a very interesting business model. They provide laboratory services, consultation services, assist with product development, and a range of other natural research dynamics.

If this is the future, it’s going to be more practical values than hype. Check out their website here at www.capralogics.com and see how science is managing its success story. It’s a pretty fascinating experience.