ONLINE DIRECTORY OF IMMUNOCLONES AND THEIR IMMUNOREACTIVE PRODUCTS

THE TECHNOLOGY OF PRODUCING HYBRIDOMAS AND OTHER CLONED CELL LINES THAT SECRETE IMMUNOREACTIVE SUBSTANCES, SUCH AS MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, IS NOW COMMANDING ATTENTION IN ALL FIELDS OF BIOLOGY. THE WIDE APPLICABILITY OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AS HIGHLY SPECIFIC REAGENTS AND THE INCREASING NUMBER OF INVESTIGATORS WORKING WITH MONOCLONALS NECESSITATEA CENTRALIZED INFORMATION RESOURCE CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF HYBRIDOMAS AND PRODUCT AVAILABILITY. THE HYBRIDOMA DATA BANK (HDB) HAS BEEN ORGANIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS AS A COST-SHARING PROJECT. FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTING THE MANY DISCIPLINES ENCOMPASSED BY HYBRIDOMA TECHNOLOGY. BECAUSE OFTHE SIZE, SCOPE, AND COMPLEXITY OF THE HDB, IT CANNOT BE ACCESSED ONLINE. QUESTIONS ARE SUBMITTED BY MAIL OR TELEPHONE TO BE HANDLED BY DATA BANK STAFF. THESE INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS PERFORM THE REQUIRED RESEARCH AND MAIL REPORTS TO THE REQUESTORS. THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE AN ONLINE DIRECTORY TO THE HDB ON THE DIALCOM NETWORK. THIS MENU-DRIVEN SYSTEM, UPDATED MONTHLY, WILL CONTAIN BASIC DATA ON AVAILABLE HYBRIDOMAS, MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES, AND OTHER IMMUNOREACTIVE PRODUCTS OF CLONED CELL LINES. USERS WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM FROM ALMOST ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THROUGH PUBLIC COMMUNICATION NETWORKS. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ORDER PRODUCTS ONLINE DIRECTLY FROM VENDORS AND REQUEST FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT PRODUCTS LISTED IN THE DIRECTORY.