Therapeutic antibodies, vaccines and antibodyomes

The potential for antibodies to act as "magic bullets" for treatment of human disease was recognized a century ago, but its full realization has began to occur only during the last decade. A key to their current success is the ability to make libraries of antibodies/B cells, isolate a single species, and engineer it to be safe, efficacious and of high quality. Despite this progress, major challenges to the effective prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a vast majority of diseases remain. Limited success in the development of effective vaccines against diseases such as AIDS and cancer reflects our incomplete understanding of how antibodies are generated and function. Only a miniscule number of antibodies are characterized out of the universe of antibodies generated by the immune system. Knowledge of antibodyomes-the complete sets of antibodies-could help solve these and other challenges.