Antibody design: beyond the natural limits

Dissection of antibody-antigen interactions requires a knowledge of antibody structure, the ability to model accurately the conformation of antibody-combining sites, and an understanding of the energetic factors governing the interactions. When this understanding has reached the point where the molecular shape and chemical character of a combining site necessary to define a particular specificity and binding requirement can be designed, the antibody repertoire will have been extended 'beyond the natural limits'.