Monoclonal Antibody
Contents
Key Stage 4
Meaning
A monoclonal antibody is an antibody produced from a group of cloned cells made in a laboratory.
About Monoclonal Antibodies
- Monoclonal antibodies are often made from a type of cell made by scientists called a hybridoma.
- Monoclonal antibodies are made by taking a lymphocyte, which has been made to produce a particular antibody, and combining it with a cell from a tumour, which rapidly reproduces. This makes a new cell called a hybridoma which reproduces rapidly and produces the antibody. Since the hybridoma cells are all clones of one original cell it is named a monoclonal antibody.
- Antibodies attach themselves to chemicals known as antigens which are proteins found on the surfaces of different pathogens or other cells.