Antibody Engineering

The dawn of the recombinant DNA revolution in the 70s and 80s led to the production and engineering of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (sometimes referred to as rAbs). Early efforts in the 80s and 90s focused on the humanization and fragmentation of antibodies. Into the 21st century the appetite to engineer antibodies with a myriad of improved functionalities has continued to grow with the creation of so-called second and third generation antibodies. To date this work has largely been the preserve of the bio-pharmaceutical industry and a small number of industry-focused academic labs. This section of the Absolute Antibody resources aims to summarize some of the efforts in this ever expanding field:

1. Humanization
2. Antibody fragments
3. Fc engineering
   • Increasing effector function
   • Decreasing effector function
   • Extending serum half-life
4. Bispecifics
   • Quadromas
   • Heterodimeric bispecific antibodies
   • Bispecific antibody fusions
   • Bispecific antibody fragments
   • Multi-specific antibodies