TABLE 1.
Properties of polyclonal versus monoclonal antibodies
| Antibody type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Polyclonal | Inexpensive to produce Low technology (skill set) Short time scale Recognizes multiple epitopes Signal amplification More tolerant of small changes in the antigen (polymorphism, glycosylation, slight denaturation) |
Contains many nonspecific antibodies Batch-to-batch variability Mixture of characteristics May cross-react with similar or related proteins Multiple subtypes |
| Monoclonal | Produces large amounts of specific antibody Recognizes one specific epitope Consistency between batches Renewable resource Quantifiable characteristics Good for multiplexing assays Single subtype Lower backgrounds Higher reproducibility |
Expensive to produce High technology (skill set) Long time scale No signal amplification Less likely to detect cross-species proteins |
