TABLE 1.

Advantage and disadvantages of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies.

Antibody’s type
—	Polyclonal	Monoclonal	Recombinant
Advantage	Low cost to produce	Homogeneity is conserved between batches to ensure reproducible results	Improved reproducibility and control
	Quick turnaround time from antigen preparation to antibody harvesting	High specificity for single epitope	Antibodies can be produced rapidly
	Ability to detect multiple epitopes on an antigen	Less background	No host animals are need
	High affinity and sensitivity to detect low quantity proteins	Specificity of monoclonal antibodies make them efficient	Easier isotype conversion
	Preferred for detection of denatured proteins	Cross-reactivity with other molecules is reduced
Disadvantage	Higher tolerance for differences in antigen	Significantly more expensive to produce	High cost to develop and produce
	Variability in each batch	Require more specialized training to create and have a much longer turnaround time	High degree of technical skills of the professionals is required
	Non-specific antibody	Cover only one epitope
	Multiple epitopes cause high chance of cross-reactivity resulting in higher background	More sensitive to buffer conditions