ANTIBODY DESIGN - BEYOND THE NATURAL LIMITS

Dissection of antibody-antigen interactions requires a knowledge of an tibody structure, the ability to model accurately the conformation of antibody-combining sites, and an understanding of the energetic factor s governing the interactions. When this understanding has reached the point where the molecular shape and chemical character of a combining site necessary to define a particular specificity and binding requirem ent can be designed, the antibody repertoire will have been extended ' beyond the natural limits'.