Antibodies have the intrinsic capacity to destroy antigens

Research throughout the last century has led to a consensus as to the strat egy of the humoral component of the immune system. The essence is that, for killing, the antibody molecule activates additional systems that respond t o antibody-antigen union. We now report that the immune system seems to hav e a previously unrecognized chemical potential intrinsic to the antibody mo lecule itself. All antibodies studied, regardless of source or antigenic sp ecificity, can convert molecular oxygen into hydrogen peroxide. thereby pot entially aligning recognition and killing within the same molecule. Aside f rom pointing to a new chemical arm for the immune system, these results may be important to the understanding of how antibodies evolved and what role they may play in human diseases.