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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Reproducibility and Harmonization in Research Using Biological Standards: The Example of Platelet Agonist Collagen-Related Peptide
Published on: August 4, 2023
Standardization of biological medicines: the first hundred years, 1900-2000
Adrian F Bristow1, Trevor Barrowcliffe, Derek R Bangham
1National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Blanche Lane, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 3QG, UK. abristow@nibsc.ac.uk
Abstract:
The use of materials of biological origin in medicine has a long history. These materials, including tissue, organ and microbial extracts, blood and its derivatives, antibodies and hormones, share the feature that for much of the last century the ability to characterize and quantify the active substance was limited. Quantification of these substances depends on biological standardization, a discipline that was refined to a science by the Medical Research Council from the 1920s onwards, and which, with contributions from several prominent Fellows of the Royal Society, including principally Sir Henry Dale, the UK has led the world to the present date.
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