How Abcam is leading the way in antibody performance
Antibodies that work the first time and every time are critical to trusting your results and reproducing your work. The quality of life science research is still significantly impacted by poor quality reagents, affecting the accuracy and reproducibility of results, with approximately 20% of protein studies using ineffective antibodies (Ayoubi, 2023). Since 2020, Abcam has been working with an independent open-science organization, YCharOS (pronounced ‘Icarus’), to verify the quality and consistency of our recombinant antibodies. We’re happy to say the results speak for themselves.
Figure 1. Antibody success rate averaged across all YCharOS tested applications using YCharOS standard protocols. Assessment based on Abcam’s review of testing data. Abcam’s rabbit monoclonal antibodies perform consistently better across applications and the widest range of targets.
About YCharOS
YCharOS Inc. is a Canadian, public-interest, open-science company dedicated to characterizing commercially available antibodies for human proteins. Their mission is to improve standards within the industry and provide researchers with the necessary data to choose the best tools for their projects. YCharOS follows the principles of open science, and its detailed methodology and results are made widely available.
Since 2020, Abcam has been collaborating with YCharOS, providing over 500 antibodies and over 120 knock-out cell lines to support their mission and to assist in scaling up their efforts. In turn, YCharOS provides confidence in our characterization and validation processes at Abcam and ensures that any products we have that do not match our quality standards are removed from sale or our guarantees for working in specific applications are updated accordingly.
Best performance across applications
In 2024 we were able to perform an analysis of results from YCharOS’ testing. YCharOS’ testing covered three common applications: Western blotting (112 targets), immunoprecipitation (IP, 102 targets), and immunocytochemistry (ICC, 87 targets). Our assessment of their results showed that Abcam’s recombinant monoclonal antibodies consistently outperformed antibodies from other vendors, demonstrating higher pass rates and covering a broader set of targets to provide products to a wider range of products when our customers need them.
- Western blot: Abcam had the widest portfolio of choice across targets, with 78% coverage of targets across applications, and the best antibody pass rate of 87%. This indicates that our antibodies are highly reliable and effective in detecting targets in western blot.
- IP: With a coverage of 65% of targets and a pass rate of 51%, Abcam’s antibodies performed well in IP, showcasing their ability to pull down the target in a native cell mixture and not bind off-target proteins.
- ICC: A more challenging application compared to WB and IP, Abcam led with a coverage of 68% of targets and a pass rate of 66%, solidifying our position as the top choice for cell imaging applications.
Performance of polyclonals, monoclonals and recombinant antibodies
The analysis of data circulated in 2024 also highlighted the performance of different antibody types:
- Abcam’s recombinant antibodies had the highest success rates on average across all three applications compared with our competitors. The success rates of Abcam’s recombinant monoclonal antibodies were 97% for western blot, 55% for IP, and 83% for ICC using YCharOS standard protocols.
- Our recombinants showed up to a 30% higher pass rate compared to polyclonal antibodies, underscoring the quality and reliability of sequence-defined recombinant products that are consistent between batches.
- Although recombinant antibodies performed better overall, Abcam’s monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies generally showed equivalent or higher pass rates in western blot, ICC, and IP compared with our competitors.
Leading the industry
The results of this independent analysis reflect our commitment to quality. Our recombinant antibodies not only demonstrated the highest pass rates across applications but also covered more targets than any other vendor.
We believe that the scientific community goes further, faster, when we go there together. We’re excited to continue our work with YCharOS and to support life science research globally by making excellent quality antibodies that work the first time, and every time after.
We’re very pleased with these results, but we also know that not every antibody works in every application. Please check what is guaranteed when you purchase antibodies from us or anyone else, and remember to run your own controls in your own systems to cross-validate.
To learn more about YCharOS, their protocols, and antibody reproducibility, you can read more in the references below.