Selecting the Right Antibody

It can be challenging to determine the best antibody choice for your experiments. That's why Reddot Biotech is happy to offer a wide range different types of antibodies to fit many different experimental needs. Here are a few tips to help the selection process. If you have any questions, or need assistance, please contact us.

Application

When selecting an antibody, you first want to ensure that the antibody you choose to use is appropriate for the chosen application. Different applications may require different preparation of the antibodies, and not all antibodies are suitable for all applications. It is important to refer to the product manual included with your order to confirm the antibody can be used for your preferred application. 

Clonality

The next consideration to make should be the clonality of your primary antibody. 

Monoclonal antibodies are homogenous and recognize a single and specific antigenic epitope. This can be advantageous because monoclonal antibodies often have low background staining and consistent experimental results. However, they can also be a poor choice for antigen detection across multiple species and are susceptible to epitope alteration in sample treatment methods. 

Polyclonal antibodies can bind to multiple epitopes. This can be good for signal amplification and a high tolerance to antigen changes, however they can also come with unwanted background staining and variability from batch to batch. 

We recommend choosing the clonality best suited to your own specific research needs.

Host

It is also important to take into account the host species of your selected primary antibody. It is essential that the host species of the primary antibody differs from the species of your sample to avoid any cross-reactivity between secondary antibodies and endogenous immunoglobulins in your sample. 

Secondary Antibody

We recommend choosing a secondary antibody that has been raised against the host species of the primary antibody you have selected. For example, if you choose a rabbit primary antibody, your secondary antibody should be anti-rabbit. Always refer to the manual of the secondary antibody to confirm it has also been tested for your desired application.

Literature and Background Research

Consult your favourite literature resources to find out what other researchers are doing, and how they are doing it!

You can check out our full range of Antibodies here. 

Contact us with any questions or comments.