ABSTRACT
In this chapter, several methods used in diagnostic and research immunology laboratories are discussed. By and large, most of the assays employ a technology to detect antigen and antibody reactions. Older technologies used precipitation in gels or agglutination in order to detect the presence of antibodies to a given pathogen, to identify a pathogen, or to type red blood cells. More specific methods include immunoblotting and Western blotting. Immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay tests are widely used in immunohistology, clinical immunology, and microbiology. The development of monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry allowed for determination of cell lineage, developmental stage, and neoplastic transformation using fluorescently labeled monoclonal antibodies reactive with a large number of cell markers. Progress has also been made in the development of methodology to study cell-mediated immunity and phagocytic cell function, both experimentally and clinically.
