Becca

3%
Flag icon
Screening for antibodies is distinct from isolating virus, just as a footprint is distinct from a shoe. Antibodies are molecules manufactured by the immune system of a host in response to the presence of a biological intruder. They are custom-shaped to merge with and disable that particular virus, or bacterium, or other bug. Their specificity, and the fact that they remain in the bloodstream even after the intruder has been conquered, make them valuable as evidence of present or past infection.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
Rate this book
Clear rating
Open Preview