Two paths to antibody tools: monoclonal vs. polyclonal advantages and choices
Both mAbs and pAbs have their own distinct characteristics and advantages. Monoclonal antibodies exhibit high specificity and are less prone to cross-reactivity. Once a hybridoma cell line or recombinant expression system is successfully established, theoretically unlimited production can be achieved, which ensures the stability of supply and the possibility of large-scale application. The advantage of polyclonal antibodies is that they can recognize multiple epitopes, which are especially suitable for detecting less abundant proteins, and can play a natural role in signal amplification in some detection methods.