Western Blotting as a Diagnostic Method

Protein blotting, the transfer of proteins from a separating gel onto a thin uniform support matrix, first appeared in 1979. Continuing the geographic theme following Southern's publication of his method for the identification of specific DNA fragments (1 ) in 1975 and the introduction of Northern blotting (2 ) not long after, the technique became known as Western blotting. Today, the original article by Towbin et al. (3 ) is cited many thousands of times a year. The technique itself has been modified and extended over the years (4 ). Once on a solid support, procedures that would otherwise proved difficult or impossible in the gel can be undertaken. A blot allows for rapid staining and destaining protocols of the separated proteins. Low concentrations of sample are more easily detected because they are not spread throughout the thickness of the gel but are “concentrated” on the surface; also, membranes are easier to handle and manipulate.