Where Do Polyclonal Antibodies Come from?

Polyclonal antibodies are produced by immunizing an animal with a purified specific molecule (immunogen) bearing the antigen of interest. The animal will mount a humoral response to the immunogen and the antibodies so produced can be harvested by bleeding the animal to obtain immunoglobulin-rich serum.

How do you produce polyclonal antibodies?

Polyclonal antibodies are produced by injecting an immunogen into an animal. After being injected with a specific antigen to elicit a primary immune response, the animal is given a secondary even tertiary immunization to produce higher titers of antibodies against the particular antigen.

Are polyclonal antibodies natural?

Basis of polyclonality. Responses are polyclonal in nature as each clone somewhat specializes in producing antibodies against a given epitope, and because, each antigen contains multiple epitopes, each of which in turn can be recognized by more than one clone of B cells.