ABSTRACT
Scientists have exploited the exquisite sensitivity and specificity of antibody recognition for use in assays for both diagnostic and basic research applications. In the past few decades, technological advances in methods to generate antibodies and to detect antibody-antigen binding have transformed laboratory medicine and basic research in many fields. A variety of platforms make use of fluorescence or chemiluminescence to detect antigen-antibody interactions. These technologies are sensitive, specific, quantitative, and relatively rapid. Two of the most important technologies, immunoassays and flow cytometry, have replaced more laborious, less sensitive methods that relied on the detection of antigen-antibody aggregates in gel-based systems (immunodiffusion). The use of fluorescent and chemiluminescent detection systems in these newer technologies has all but replaced the use of radiation in the laboratory. Applications of these serologic and molecular methods are quite broad. They have been applied to the diagnosis of infectious diseases, the detection of previous infection, the monitoring of neoplasms and vaccine efficacy, the assay of hormones and drugs, and pregnancy diagnosis. In some cases, the antigen being measured is itself an antibody. Measurement of specific antibodies has found wide application in the diagnosis of infectious, allergic, autoimmune, and immunodeficiency diseases.
