The rapid development of these reagents initially generated considerable confusion. Laboratories worldwide produced thousands of these new reagents and reorganized the classification, diagnosis, and prognosis of diseases such as leukemia and the lymphomas. These tools quickly transformed biomedical research in immunology and oncology-hematology. In the late 1970s, immunologists began producing new kinds of antibodies targeting molecules on the surface of normal and malignant blood cells. This paper analyses a major episode in contemporary biomedical research using a new semi-quantitative approach.
