卵黄抗体又称卵黄免疫球蛋白(IgY)，是一种7s免疫球蛋白。与哺乳动物IgG略有不同，在母鸡血清中选择性地转移到卵黄，是卵黄中唯一的免疫球蛋白。由于IgY具有化学性质稳定、产量高、成本低以及动物种系发生学距离的优势，使得IgY在制备多克隆抗体、免疫检测诊断、人类和动物疾病的预防治疗方面均得到了广泛的应用。  

 Yolk antibody known as immunoglobulin yolk (IgY), is a 7s immunoglobulin. It is selectively transferred from hen serum to the yolk and is the only antibody in yolk which is slightly different from mammalian IgG. Since IgY possesses advantages of chemical stability, high productivity, low cost, and animal phylogenetic distance, it has a wide range of applications in polyclonal antibodies preparation, immunoassay, human and animal disease prevention and treatment.