Welcome to the Abcam blog

EasyLink antibody conjugation kits provide a simple and quick process to conjugate your antibodies. In a procedure, with no separation steps, you will obtain a ready-to-use solution of conjugated antibody. You just need to think about the preparation of the antibody solution and we recommend purifying antibodies before any conjugation to remove certain components that could interfere during the reaction. To assist you in your research, we supply concentration and purification kits, compatible with all EasyLink antibody conjugation kits.

EasyLink antibody conjugation kits are suitable for micrograms to milligrams of antibodies and the conjugation process involves free amine groups.

• Learn more about buffer compatibility and labeling chemistry in our FAQs
• Learn more about the conjugation process

Download (1.35MB) a handy PDF, with information on EasyLink and related products.

You may have noticed that our secondary antibodies page now has a new search tool, which helps you choose the most appropriate secondary antibody from the thousands we have in our catalog.

The menu filters allow you to select species, format, specificity, conjugation and more. Check out our secondaries conjugated with new generation fluorescent dyes (e.g. DyLight®) exhibiting high photostability and low background staining.

Below is an example video of someone searching for a secondary antibody against mouse IgG H&L, raised in goat and conjugated with DyLight® 488. This was then further refined using the side filters (F(ab')₂ secondary antibody).

For further information you can also check out our guide to choosing the right secondary antibody. Alternatively, contact us if you have any technical questions.

We'd like to hear your feedback on the tool, through Kampyle (the triangle in the bottom corner of our website) or on Twitter and Facebook.

We are pleased to announce that our catalog has grown again and now includes secondary antibodies conjugated with DyLight® 488, DyLight® 549, DyLight® 594 and DyLight® 649, available in affinity purified and pre-adsorbed formats.

We have added almost 150 DyLight® products to our catalog because DyLight® dyes show higher fluorescence intensity and photostability than the convential fluorochromes, such as FITC and Texas Red. DyLight® dyes have a narrower emission spectra, which results in less leakage into other fluorescence channels, making it easier for multiple labeling. The improved photostability means they can last longer under fluorescent light without getting bleached, reducing loss of signal intensity.

Read about more about the advantages of DyLight® and the benefits of pre-adsorbed DyLight® conjugated secondary antibodies.

Our Scientific Support team have also written guides to help you find the right secondary antibody and how to choose a conjugate.

DyLight® is a trademark of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and its subsidiaries.

In order to celebrate the redesign of our packaging, we have launched a website highlighting the benefits of our smaller shipping boxes and buildable blocks

• Boxes keep products cold for six hours longer
• Blocks hold 0.5ml and 1.5ml microcentrifuge tubes
• Reusable buildable racks

Play the building blocks game and win Amazon vouchers by reaching the top of the high score board!

Check out buildingblocks.abcam.com to find out more.

What do you think?

If you have any feedback on the new packaging or the game, please let us know by adding a comment to this blog post.

Interested in ChIP, but not sure where to start?

In a first for Abcam, one of our scientific experts is presenting at an online conference, BioConference Live!

Our Scientific Support Manager, Karen Halls, is giving an 'Introduction to ChIP' this Tuesday, November 17 from 11:00 - 12:00 EST.

• View Karen's abstract

If you can't make the presentation, don't worry: after the conference we'll put a recording of the webinar on our website. Check back on this blog for updates!

ChIP resources at Abcam

• ChIP protocols and new ChIP primers
• Abcam's ChIP kit

About the conference

BioConference Live, November 17-19, will feature online video keynote presentations from life science thought leaders with live question and answer sessions after each presentation. You can also visit a virtual exhibit hall, track sessions and case studies, and poster sessions where researchers can present and discuss their latest work.

• All speakers and talk titles
• Free: register for the conference

Scientific Support staff from all of offices will be joining the conference to provide 24 hour technical advice to all attendees.

We've moved!

I'm writing this from Abcam's new head office on the Cambridge Science Park! The new building gives us lots more space to expand our operations, including room for increased customer service, scientific support and product storage. For a great start to the first day in the new office, we held a big breakfast to celebrate the successful move. Excellent!

Our new address:

Abcam plc
330 Cambridge Science Park
Cambridge
CB4 0FL
UK

View contact details for your country

And our new office would not be complete without some fun Molly-isms. Here's a sneak preview.

Image gallery

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge it.

The winner of Abcam's iPod Touch prize drawing at the spring meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Harrogate, UK was Gemma Watkins (University of Warwick).

"The SGM in Harrogate was actually the first conference I had been to so it was a good introduction into the ways scientists present their work to the wider community. The poster sessions were a good way of interacting directly with researchers on a more personal level, which I found useful as it can be very daunting asking questions in a large talk session! And winning an iPod has definitely resulted in a most favorable opinion of the Harrogate SGM so thank you very much! "

Microbiology products at Abcam

We would like to congratulate Prof. Steve Jackson (Gurdon Institute, Cambridge) for winning the inaugural BBSRC 'Innovator of the Year' award. This title was awarded for his work to turn research on DNA damage and repair into cancer therapies that are now saving the lives of breast and ovarian cancer sufferers.

Prof. Jackson has a long relationship with Abcam, which includes chairing our first international meeting on Genome Stability in 2008. The next meeting in this series is the Maintenance of Genome Stability Conference, Antigua, March 8-11, 2010. Topics will include:

• Replication, recombination and repair
• Genome instability, disease and aging
• The DDR and chromatin
• DNA repair and genome stability

At the ceremony and gala dinner last month in London, UK, Prof Jackson was presented with a trophy and a prize of £10,000. Accepting the award, he said "It's a tremendous honor to receive this prestigious award. It really reflects that science, like that funded by BBSRC in my group over the years can yield both exciting science and commercial and social applications."

In October, we ran a competition to celebrate Abcam's tenth anniversary, offering the chance to win three prizes: a day out for your lab, a meal for your lab, and a basket of delicacies.

Learn more about the Abcam story, and find out how the winners got on below...

First prize: Dr Fumiko (Pathology Institute, Tokyo)

Here's some pictures of the lab's day out, and it looks like Molly the Sheep was lucky enough to be invited too!

"We really enjoyed the hot spa and blowfish cuisine. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful opportunity". Dr Fumiko

Second prize: Dr Koh (Johns Hopkins University)

"We all had a great time. Thank you!!" Dr Koh

Third prize: Dr Smit-Rigter (University of Amsterdam)

As well as the basket of goodies, you can spot the Abcam pathway cards too! "Thanks a lot for all the stuff. It was delicious. Here a photo of the basket and us enjoying it". Dr. Smit-Rigter