Monoclonal antibodies are produced from

  • A. a mixture of antibodies collected from immunised animals
  • B. bacteria carrying an antibody gene on a plasmid
  • C. a hybridoma made by fusing a single B lymphocyte with a cancer cell
  • D. the plasma of recovered patients

Explanation

The B cell supplies the specificity for one antigen and the tumour cell supplies the ability to divide indefinitely, so the fused hybridoma yields an unlimited supply of one identical antibody. This is what makes pregnancy tests, many diagnostic kits and targeted cancer treatments possible. Antibody collected from an immunised animal is polyclonal, a mixture recognising many sites on the antigen.

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