3.2.2 Uses of Monoclonal Antibodies

• What are some examples of how monoclonal antibodies are used?

  • Pregnancy tests.
  • Detection of pathogens.
  • Measuring levels of hormones and chemicals in blood.
  • To locate specific molecules in a cell or tissue.
  • To treat diseases like cancer.
• Why are monoclonal antibodies not yet widely used?

  They create more side effects than expected.
• What is a pregnancy test for?

  To check if a woman is pregnant or not.
• The pregnancy test works by detecting the presence of particular hormone that women only produce whilst pregnant. What is the name of this hormone?

  Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
• Pregnancy tests can be bought cheaply in most supermarkets. Which bodily fluid do they use to test for the presence of hCG?

  Urine.
• Which type of antibodies does the pregnancy test use?

  Monoclonal antibodies.
• What are the benefits of the pregnancy test?

  It’s cheap and quick.
• Steps of a positive pregnancy test:

  1. Urine passes through the reaction zone.
  2. The hCG hormone binds to the mobile hCG antibody in the reaction zone.
  3. These hormones pass up the stick and bind to the immobilised hCG antibodies in the results zone.
  4. Some antibodies are still left.
  5. These antibodies bind to the antibodies in the control zone.
  6. Blue dye appears in both the control and result zones to show a positive result.