Monoclonal antibodies come of age, and passive immunity treatments come around

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 4 weeks (www.nature.com)

Monoclonal antibodies, antibodies that are made from a single cell line and that bind to a specific part of a specific antigen, are much more precise than polyclonal antibodies, but they are more expensive and difficult to make. However, a new system of isolating antibodies from human patients has been used to create a library of immune proteins. So far, things seem to be going well. This could open the door for what researchers are calling "passive immunity

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Anadis Opens New Approach to Respiratory Disease Control

kavin submitted, created time 2 months 3 weeks (www.medicalnewstoday.com)

Anadis Limited (ASX: ANX), a research-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on polyclonal antibodies to address human disease, announced important progress concerning its accelerated program to develop a nasal antibody spray to provide immediate post-exposure prophylaxis against a range of influenza viruses.

Working with an animal influenza challenge model in the laboratory of Professor Loreena Brown at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, scientists successfully completed a series of proof-in-principal experiments

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Best way to make antibodies

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 3 weeks (www.reuters.com)

Making antibodies is necessary for the treatment of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C, pneumococcal pneumonia and anthrax. But the tradional methods of making antibodies is inefficienct, and now in this article proposes a new process for the extraction and copying of the essential elements of cells that make human antibodies. It may serve as a shortcut to making targeted, infection-fighting proteins known as monoclonal antibodies.

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A possible breed predisposition

angelfish submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.biomedcentral.com)

"The cause of the considerably higher prevalence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi in Bernese Mountain Dogs and its consequences are not known. A breed predisposition can be suspected."

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Vaccine developed for high blood pressure

Reviver submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.newscientist.com)

Cytos Biotechnology in Zurich, Switzerland, has created a drug that it claims can reduce blood pressure for months at a time. It works by fooling the body into making antibodies that mop up angiotensin II, a naturally occurring peptide that raises blood pressure by constricting vessels.

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