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Microbiology

Short Answer

MicrobiologyShort Answer

Short Answer

29.

Describe two reasons why polyclonal antibodies are more likely to exhibit cross-reactivity than monoclonal antibodies.

30.

Explain why hemolysis in the complement fixation test is a negative test for infection.

31.

What is meant by the term “neutralizing antibodies,” and how can we quantify this effect using the viral neutralization assay?

32.

Explain why the titer of a direct hemagglutination assay is the highest dilution that still causes hemagglutination, whereas in the viral hemagglutination inhibition assay, the titer is the highest dilution at which hemagglutination is not observed.

33.

Why would a doctor order a direct Coombs’ test when a baby is born with jaundice?

34.

Why is it important in a sandwich ELISA that the antigen has multiple epitopes? And why might it be advantageous to use polyclonal antisera rather than mAb in this assay?

35.

The pregnancy test strip detects the presence of human chorionic gonadotrophin in urine. This hormone is initially produced by the fetus and later by the placenta. Why is the test strip preferred for this test rather than using either a direct or indirect ELISA with their more quantifiable results?

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