Monoclonal Antibodies

• White blood cells produce antibodies, protein molecules that stick to pathogens. The white blood cells that produce them are lymphocytes.
• Lymphocytes produce antibodies against anything the body detects as foreign.
• Foreign objects in the body are called antigens
• Scientists can trigger lymphocytes to produce antibodies, which is useful for cancer treatment and pregnancy tests.
• 1. A lab mouse is infected with antigens
  2. Lymphocytes are fused with tumour cells to produce a hybridoma, which can produce antibodies and divide quickly by osmosis.
  3. A hybridoma that produces the necessary antigens is chosen, and allowed to divide by mitosis to form a clone of identical hybridoma cells.
  4. The antibodies produced from this hybridoma are identical
  5. This is a monoclonal antibody.
• Monoclonal antibodies come from a single clone of hybridoma cells.
• This means that monoclonal antibodies are specific to one binding site on one protein antigen.
• The benefit of this is that monoclonal antibodies can target a specific chemical or specific cells in the body. That means that monoclonal antibodies have a large number of uses.
• Monoclonal antibodies can be used as diagnostic tools because they bind specifically to their antigen. This allows them to detect diseases such as HIV and cancer.
• In pregnancy testing, monoclonal antibodies are used to detect a specific hormone.
• The hormone that pregnancy tests test for is produced by the placenta of the developing fetus.
• Pregnancy tests made with monoclonal antibodies are highly accurate when used correctly, as well as cheap and easy to use.
• We can use monoclonal antibodies to measure levels of hormones in blood.
• We can use monoclonal antibodies to detect pathogens like viruses in the blood.