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ShareA review by PETA Science Consortium International e.V., published in Alternatives to Animal Experimentation (ALTEX), shows that many of the most commonly used animal-derived antibodies in scientific research already have readily available non‑animal or animal-production-free replacements.
Antibodies are essential research tools to detect viruses, bacteria, or other molecules in research. Because antibodies produced in animals can vary from batch to batch due to biological differences between individual animals, there has been a shift towards the use of sequence defined antibodies.
The new review demonstrates that many of the most frequently cited antibodies have sequence defined alternatives that are either entirely animal-free or eliminate animal use during production, while offering greater consistency and reliability. These modern replacements are commercially available and can be adopted immediately by laboratories.
Notably, sequence-defined options exist for all of the top 100 research antibodies that are still produced using the ascites method, highlighting a priority replacement opportunity for antibodies associated with well-recognised scientific and ethical limitations.
The review, “Increasing the use of sequence-defined antibodies: practical solutions for common targets”, is available here.