Frequently Asked Questions
Related to the animals and the farm
Q: Are your immunization programs painful for the animals?
A: No. This is the main reason why we started Capra Science Antibodies. We wanted to show the research community that one can use mild methods in combination with rich environments and gentle, kind animal care takers in order to successfully generate high-quality antibodies.
Q: Will letting the animals live in an unsterile environment ruin my antibody production?
A: No, on the contrary. Our environments generate healthy animals with strong immune systems and high titer antibodies.
Many of the environmental parameters that affect immune suppression are often found in the common super clean animal laboratory facilities that are present today. Research shows that these environments do not promote a top-quality antibody product.
Q: What are you feeding the animals?
A: We have developed a mixture of documented parasite-repressing herbs and organically grown hay and seeds that improve the resistance to parasites and make the immune system alert. Our farm is certified organic. The main reason is that many of the pesticides used in farming today are known to have negative effects on health.
Q: Does animal wellbeing really impact the antibody yield?
A: Yes. It’s a well-known and well researched fact that a sterile environment does not promote health and immune system of any species. It is also established that antibody production and yield outcome are directly related to good health and strong immune systems. Read more here ››
Q: Can my lab team visit Capra Science Antibodies farms as a fun team-building event or retreat?
A: We would love to say yes, but in reality it is difficult to arrange. Primarily, we need to protect our animals from diseases. Apart from this, running two farms is hard work with a full schedule seven days per week. So, unfortunately, to make everything work, we must use our work hours to take good care of our animals and our customer’s antibody generation.
We are all about transparency however, and if you are curious about how our animals live, you can check our film clips on the page we call Greetings from our animals ››
Related to products and orders
Q: How fast can I start my antibody generation?
A: We can generally begin within 1–2 weeks after receiving your antigen.
Q: How do I ship my antigen to you?
A: Kindly email your contact person at Capra Science and let us know you are preparing a package to us. Also, fill out and send us (by email) our order form with your contact details and the general information of your sample/-s. More about shipping ››
Q: How do I know which host to choose for my antibody generation?
A: The choice of host mainly depend on three factors:
- The properties of the antigen
- The application
- The amounts of antigen available
Every host has its advantages. Use our antibody experts to discuss which is the best choice of host for your project.
Q: Why does it take so long to produce my antibody?
A: Regardless of species, it is not possible to rush the natural process of an immune response. If you would like to be rewarded with an antiserum containing your top-quality antibody in high titers, a few extra weeks of patience is required. The Capra Science immunization program is optimized for reaching the highest possible levels of antigen-specific antibodies with respect to the necessary immunological processes required. Read more about affinity titer and isotype switching here ››
Q: What is an antigen?
A: The antigen is a molecule which can provoke an adaptive immune response. The term antigen originally came from antibody generator. Immunogenicity is the ability of a partical antigen or epitope to provoke an immune response in the body. The more "non-self" the antigen is the more potent it is induce an immune response.
Examples of antigens:
proteins (recombinant or tissue extracted proteins)
fragments of a protein (recombinant truncated protein)
peptides
phospho-peptides or peptides with modifications
lipids
polysaccarides
nucleic acids
other small molecules
Small molecules, for example short peptides, lipids, polysaccarides and nucleic acids, must be conjugated to a carrier to initiate a proper immune response. This is due to their small size and/or their non-immunogenic properties. Together with an immunogenic carrier, for example KLH, the antigen becomes more visable to the immune system. Futhermore, the conjugation prevents the small antigen from defusing from the injection site and quickly being eliminated without inducing the desired immune response.
Q: What are the general advantages of making a polyclonal antibody?
A: Some advantages include:
Production time is short (>3 months)
Inexpensive to produce
Recognized multiple epitopes on the antigen which amplifies the signal from the target protein
Gives generally better results in IP /ChIP
More tolerant of minor changes in the antigen (polymorphism, heterogeneity of glycosylation, or slight denaturation)
Multiple epitopes generally provide more robust detection
Using peptide as antigen can often avoid cross-reactivity to other protein family members of high homology
Q: What are the general disadvantages of making a polyclonal antibody?
A: Some disadvantages might be:
May have batch-to-batch variability. Using peptides as antigens decreases the the batch-to-batch variability.
Higher background of non-specific antibodies may be present
If using the whole protein as antigen, it may be important to run a homology analysis of the amino acid sequence to assess the risks for cross-reactivity
Q: What are the general advantages of making a monoclonal antibody?
A: Some advantages include:
Detects only one epitope on the antigen
Once produced, the hybridoma is a renewable source and all batches will be identical
Antibodies are useful for consistency and standardization of experimental procedures
Potentially less background
Q: What are the general disadvantages of making a monoclonal antibody?
A: Some disadvantages might be:
Production time is long for hybridoma generation (<6 months)
More expensive than polyclonal antibody production, due to higher technology
Specific antibodies do often not cross-react to other species
There are cases when hybridomas loose their expression of the antibody. As an insurance, precious antibodies should be sequenced
More prone to precipitation in high concentrations
Less tolerant of minor changes of the epitope, due to chemical treatment of the antigen in processing
Q: My antigen is a very conserved protein between species, what do I do?
A: Yes, some mammalian proteins are very conserved evolutionary. Generally, the best immune responses for these antigens are generated in hens or other far-related species. Contact our expert consultation to see which host would suit your particular antigen.
Q: How small of a change in the amino acid sequence of my antigen can evoke immune responses and specific antibodies?
A: It is possible to produce antibodies that are sensitive to very small changes in the peptide sequence. For example, one amino acid difference is enough. Furthermore, we make many polyclonal antibodies specific to a single phosphorylation or acetylation on a specific site on the protein. Antibodies that bind and inhibit cleavage sites or detect cleaved protein are also often generated.