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My name is Dennis Burton
from Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla,
California, United States.
I'd like to talk
about antibodies
as taught by viral
pathogens, especially HIV.
What I mean by that
is that we've spent
a lot of time studying the
interplay of antibodies
and this highly
mutating virus, HIV.
I think we've learned quite
a lot about antibodies
that we did not necessarily know
or fully realize previously.
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I consider that, in terms
of antibodies to pathogens,
there have been a
number of generations
and we're now, I would argue,
on the fourth generation.
The first generation was
immune sera against
bacterial toxins,
particularly
diphtheria, tetanus,
that was used to treat
bacterial diseases,
and this earned the
very first Nobel Prize
in Medicine and Physiology
for von Behring,
and subsequent generations have
led to greater refinement,
in terms of the
antibody preparations.
The second generation was
polyclonal antibody preparations
that were very successfully
used for viral prophylaxis.
For example, against
hepatitis B,
respiratory syncytial virus,
and, importantly,
post-exposure prophylaxis,
e.g., against rabies.
Then further refinement.
The third generation was
monoclonal antibodies,
and these, of course,
first in mouse,
then humanized mouse antibodies,
and then fully human antibodies.
They've been used for
a wide range of
therapeutic applications,
including viral prophylaxis,
where the signature antibody
was against RSV-Synagis.
Now, I think we have arrived
at the fourth generation,
which we have termed
super-antibodies,
which are monoclonal antibodies
of quite outstanding potency
and/or cross-reactivity.
We give them a nomination
as a new generation.
They can do things that, say,
regular monoclonal
antibodies could not,
so we consider them to be
a considerable advance.
