Phage display technology was first introduced by George P. Smith in 1985, an achievement so significant that it earned him a shared Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018 with Gregory P. Winter and Frances H. Arnold. This award is a powerful testament to the technique's revolutionary impact on science. This brilliant method cleverly uses phages—viruses that only infect bacteria—as tiny vehicles to "display" specific proteins or peptide fragments right on their surfaces. The most common phage used for display is M13. This tiny workhorse can pack up to 2,700 copies of a protein onto its surface. Phage display's flexibility lets scientists build all kinds of libraries—peptides, antibodies and proteins. If you need to find a functional peptide or generate strong monoclonal antibodies, phage display is your go-to tool. This technique has revolutionized the way antibodies are discovered and engineered, enabling researchers to identify antibodies with high specificity and affinity for virtually any target. Here at Creative Biolabs, we put this powerful tech to work for your custom equine antibody libraries. Specializing in constructing phage display antibody libraries, we build robust, custom and fast solutions to meet your special requirements.
Fig.1 M13 phage.1
Since its inception in 1975, hybridoma technology has been celebrated as the "gold standard" for creating monoclonal antibodies. It works by fusing antibody-producing B-cells with immortal myeloma cells, creating "immortal" cell lines that can continuously secrete a single, specific antibody. While truly a classic technique, it has its inherent limitations. This is exactly where phage display technology shines, offering unparalleled advantages that address these challenges head-on.
| Phage Display | Hybridoma | |
|---|---|---|
| Library Diversity | Up to 1011 clones | Limited by B-cell sources |
| Screening Time | 2–4 weeks | 3–6 months |
| Species Flexibility | Human, equine, camelid, shark and more | Murine-dominated |
| Affinity Maturation | In vitro (e.g., chain shuffling) | In vivo (limited control) |
The phage display process involves several key steps:
With its incredible power, phage display technology has woven itself into every corner of biomedical research and development:
Phage display technology is now a staple in antibody discovery. By fusing antibody fragments to a phage coat protein, one can achieve a genetic link between phenotype and genotype, and can select binders from libraries with >1011 independent clones. At Creative Biolabs, we deliver end-to-end phage display services—from library and system construction to screening, biopanning, custom solutions, and platform applications—to advance your antibody discovery and research goals. Those phage display services include but are not limited to:
We offer four different types of antibody libraries to support all your research and screening requirements. Creative Biolabs also offers a well-optimized platform for various antibody production to support antibody discovery from antigen design to binder characterization.
| Library Type | Source | Application Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Immune | Hamster spleen, PBMC post-immunization | High-affinity, antigen-specific screening |
| Naïve | Non-immunized B cells | Broad reactivity, discovery of novel targets |
| Semi-synthetic | Natural V regions + synthetic CDRs | Controlled diversity, optimized screening |
| Synthetic | Fully synthetic V regions | Design-driven library, ideal for de novo discovery |
Looking ahead, phage display technology is deeply merging with other cutting-edge fields like next-generation sequencing (NGS), artificial intelligence (AI), and microfluidics. NGS allows us to monitor the dynamic changes in an antibody library throughout the entire screening process, while AI algorithms can predict an antibody's affinity and druggability from massive sets of sequence data. This powerful combination is set to make the antibody discovery journey more precise, efficient, and predictable than ever before. If you need a tool antibody for basic research, phage display offers a robust and flexible platform. Here at Creative Biolabs, we are committed to being at the forefront of this technology. We provide a complete one-stop solution, from strategic design to final candidate delivery, partnering with you to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and drug development.
Q: Which targets and species can you support on your platform?
A: We construct and screen peptide, protein, and antibody libraries against soluble proteins, membrane receptors, and cell/tissue contexts. Species coverage spans human, non-human primates, camelids, reptiles, rodents, companion animals, and livestock, enabling cross-species projects when needed.
Q: What phage systems do you use—and why choose one over another?
A: We deploy M13, T4, and T7. M13 supports pVIII (up to ~2700 copies) or pIII (1–5 copies) display; T4 enables larger inserts and dual HOC/SOC display; T7 tolerates harsh conditions and shortens cycles—ideal when stringency or speed matters.
Q: What library types are available for antibody engineering projects?
A: Antibody libraries (immune, naïve, semi-synthetic, synthetic) sit alongside peptide, protein scaffold, and cDNA libraries. We also maintain premade libraries to accelerate starts when timelines are tight.
Q: Do you run monovalent or multivalent display, and what's your vector system?
A: For precise affinity ranking, we favor monovalent pIII display using a phagemid/helper phage system; M13's architecture also allows multivalent pVIII display when avidity is beneficial during early enrichment.
Q: Can you support glycan or PTM-dependent targets?
A: We can. For glycan-focused projects, we use glycoarrays for screening and counter-selection to control motif specificity. For PTM targets, we present modified antigens (phospho, acetyl, etc.) and apply differential panning to isolate clones that discriminate modified versus unmodified states.
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Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).
Creative Biolabs is a globally recognized phage company. Creative Biolabs is committed to providing researchers with the most reliable service and the most competitive price.
