ELISPOT Assay: A Personal Retrospective

In 1983, papers describing the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) technique were published by two groups, the first description from a team in Perth, Western Australia, and the second, soon thereafter, from a group in Gothenburg, Sweden. Described here is my recollection of the background and circumstances that lead to the assay’s development within the Perth group. Included are the early studies in 1981 through early 1982 that were conducted to bring the assay to fruition—both setbacks and solutions, and finally some generally unknown but amusing insights into the naming of the ELISPOT assay by the Gothenburg group.