Evolution of reagents in erythrocyte immunohematology

Until the 1980s blood group reagents had been produced from human or animal plasmas. Since then, the main change has been the increase of the use of m onoclonal antibodies in laboratory reagents. Today, they are the basis of m ost reagents for blood group typing. They include murine (hybridomas) and h uman (Epstein-Barr virus immortalized lymphocytes and phage display) antibo dies. The use of these antibodies leads to standardized methods of producti on and a better definition of the specificity through international works. The main drawback is the lack of antibodies for some blood group antigens. However, in the future these methods will be confronted with the developmen t of DNA-based methods. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevi er SAS.