Question

Consider the following and choose the correct answer Assertion [A]: Monoclonal antibodies have higher specificity than polyclonal antibodies. Reason [R]: They recognize only one epitope on an antigen. The correct answer is

• A. Both [A] and [R] are true and [R] is the correct explanation of [A]
• B. Both [A] and [R] are true and [R] is not the correct explanation of [A]
• C. [A] is true, but [R] is false
• D. [A] is false, but [R] is true

Hint:

Comparison of antibodies: \[ \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \text{Monoclonal} &\rightarrow \text{One epitope, high specificity} \text{Polyclonal} &\rightarrow \text{Multiple epitopes} \end{aligned} } \]

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Examine the assertion. Monoclonal antibodies are produced by a single clone of B cells and therefore have very high specificity toward a single antigenic determinant. Hence, \[ \boxed{\text{Assertion [A] is true}.} \]

Step 2: Examine the reason. Monoclonal antibodies recognize \[ \boxed{\text{only one epitope on an antigen}.} \] This explains why they are more specific than polyclonal antibodies, which recognize multiple epitopes. Therefore, \[ \boxed{\text{Both [A] and [R] are true, and [R] correctly explains [A].}} \] Hence, \[ \boxed{(A)} \] is the correct answer.