ELISA plate with positive and negative controls and samples.
How this kit works: Three approaches to ELISA may be taken with this kit. Individual curriculum guides and instructions for each protocol are included in the kit, complete with Teacher’s Guides and Student Manuals. The instructor or the students may select the type of test most relevant to current course work.
1. ELISA for disease outbreaks — tracking the spread of disease.
Step 1: Classroom exchange of simulated body fluids.
Step 2: Follow protocol 2 or 3 below.
Test applications: HIV, bird flu and West Nile viruses, common cold, cholera, smallpox, anthrax, influenza, and STDs
2. ELISA for detecting antigens in a sample.
Test applications: Pregnancy hormones, drug, allergen, and GMO tests; air, food, and water testing; HIV, mad cow disease, smallpox, West Nile, and bird flu viruses
3. ELISA for detecting antibodies in a blood sample for past exposure to a disease.
Test applications: Lyme disease, trichinosis, HIV, West Nile, and bird flu viruses
This kit integrates multiple core content areas and facilitates teaching about immune system functions and about the unique properties of antibodies that have revolutionized medicine, epidemiology, and life science research.
*An antigen is a substance that stimulates an immune response and the production of antibodies. Antigens are usually proteins but can be any type of molecule.
