monoclonal antibodies

• antiobodies are produced by B-lymphocytes
• monoclonal antibodies are produced from many clones of a single white blood cell
• monoclonal antibodies are B-lymphocytes that are fused with a tumour cell to create a cell called a hybridoma
• B-lymphocyte cells don't reproduce easily, so they are fused with a tumour cell to reproduce faster
• hybridoma cells can be cloned to get many identical cells
• monoclonal antibodies are used in pregnancy tests
• a hormone called HCG is produced by the placenta and is released into the urine when a person is pregnant
• a pregnancy test work by using monoclonal antibodies to detect the presence of the hormone hCG
• in a pregnancy test, the hormone binds to the antibodies on the pigmented bead
• monoclonal antibodies can be used to treat diseases
• cancer cells have antigens on their cell membranes that aren't found on normal body cells called tumour markers
• monoclonal antibodies aren't often used because they produce negative side effects (which outweigh the good)