• Monoclonal antibodies are artificially produced antibodies produced from a single B cell clone
• The?hybridoma method?is a method used to make?monoclonal antibodies?(Mabs)
• The method enables large quantities of identical antibodies to be produced
• The hybridoma method solved the problem of having B cells that could divide by mitosis but not produce antibodies and plasma cells that could produce antibodies but not divide
• This method was established in the 1970s
• Monoclonal antibodies bind antigens, in the same way naturally produced antibodies do
• They are produced by injecting mice with an antigen that stimulates the production of antibody-producing plasma cells
• Isolated?plasma cells?from the mice are fused with immortal?tumour cells, which result in?hybridoma cells
• These hybrid cells are grown in a selective growth medium and screened for the production of the desired antibody
• They are then cultured to produce large numbers of monoclonal antibodies
• Monoclonal antibodies have multiple applications to include diagnostics, treating disease, food safety testing and pregnancy testing

The hybridoma method is used to produce monoclonal antibodies