Studies on biological characteristics of antibody produced in vitro.

In recent years, the study of antibody synthesis in vitro has aroused considerable interest. Not only does it enable the immunologists to study the phenomenon of antibody formation at a cellular level, free from various factors often associated in a whole body, but also it serves as a model for biochemists in the study of biosynthesis of a specific protein. An antigen is a complex molecule, and very often it contains more than one determinant group that can elicit antibody response. The antibody thus demonstrated in an in vitro system against a microbial antigen cannot necessarily be equated with a measure of immunity against the infection