Methods for raising antibodies
View Patent ↗The present invention generally relates to methods of generating antibodies against a species of pathogen that involve identifying the pathogen that is most genetically representative of member of pathogen species and using the identified pathogen to generate an antibody.
1. A method of generating antibodies against a species comprising pathogens, the method comprising:
obtaining nucleic acids from a plurality of pathogens within the species;
assaying said nucleic acids to determine genetic similarities between the pathogens by sequencing a portion of said nucleic acids by single molecule sequencing and comparing the sequences;
separating the pathogens into at least two different groups based upon the genetic similarities;
isolating at least one, but not all, pathogen from each group that exhibits representative characteristics of the group to form a subset of pathogens; and
generating antibodies for each isolated pathogen by administering each isolated pathogen to one or more mammals in an amount effective to produce an immune response in order to produce a set of antibodies.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid is DNA.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen comprise bacteria.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the bacteria comprise bacteria of the same species but of different serotypes.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the bacteria comprise bacteria of different strains.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein administering comprises injecting a mammal with each isolated pathogen.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein generating antibodies further comprises placing the pathogen in adjuvant prior to injecting the mammal.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibodies are monoclonal antibodies.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibodies are polyclonal antibodies.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein isolating the at least one pathogen comprises building a cladogram where genomically similar pathogens are grouped together to form clades.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subset of pathogens is representative of the genomic variation present in the species.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid is RNA.