What is the difference between polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies?

Polyclonal antibodies are antibodies that are produced by different B cells and recognise multiple epitopes of a single antigen. they are cheap to produce, but generate mixed populations of antibodies and they are tolerant to small changes in the protein structure. monoclonal antibodies are antibodies that are generated by identical immune cells, which are clones of a single parent cell. this means that they are expensive to produce, but they will only bind to one epitope. monoclonal antibody production generates a single antibody species. they are senstive to protein structure.