We describe a technology for generating recombinant polyclonal antibody lib
raries (PCALs) that enables the creation and perpetuation of standardized m
ixtures of polyclonal whole antibodies specific for a multiantigen (or poly
antigen). Therefore, this technology combines the advantages of targeting m
ultiple antigenic determinants - high avidity, low likelihood of antigen 'e
scape variants', and efficient mediation of effector functions, with the ad
vantages of using monoclonal antibodies - unlimited supply of standardized
reagents and the availability of the genetic material for desired manipulat
ions. The technology for generating recombinant polyclonal antibody librari
es begins with the creation of phage display Fab (antibody) libraries. This
is followed by selection of sublibraries with desired antigen specificitie
s, and mass transfer of the variable region gene pairs of the selected subl
ibraries to a mammalian expression vector for generation of Libraries of po
lyclonal whole antibodies. We review here our experiments for selection of
phage display antibody libraries against microbes and tumor cells, as well
as the recent literature on the selection of phage display antibody librari
es to multiantigen targets.