Part 4/8:

The Search for Potent Anti-Dengue Antibodies

Back in 2012, McCary’s team embarked on an ambitious project: screening hundreds of millions of antibodies taken from patients who recently recovered from dengue. Their goal was to find the most effective antibody that could neutralize the virus. To do this, they targeted B lymphocytes—specialized immune cells responsible for producing antibodies.

Each person has millions of B cells, each secreting a slightly different antibody. Isolating the rare B cells that produce highly specific and powerful anti-dengue antibodies is a significant technical challenge. Nevertheless, the team's efforts paid off when they successfully identified a remarkably potent antibody from a patient at the National University Hospital.