As weird as their name sounds, antibodies are actually quite friendly! They help our bodies fight off infection. And their presence indicates if we have had a disease and if we are immune. That’s why researchers in the Weiss and Penner labs are hard at work developing a test to count the amount of antibodies in our blood!

For more information on the Weiss and Penner labs, you can read about their detector here and their research here! Based off an interview with Kristin Gabriel, written and reported by Kellen Kartub, Ph.D. with production consultant Anny Celsi. Photo by Apurva Bhasin and the Penner Lab. Many thanks to Emily Sanders and Apurva Bhasin as well as other members of the Weiss and Penner labs for their time and work!