Triple Science Monoclonal Antibodies B6.5 & B6.6

Antibodies are produced by B-lymhocytes (a type of white blood cell). They are produced from lots of clones of a single white blood cell so they are identical and target one specific antigen however lymphocytes don't divide very easily.

By fusing a B-lymphocyte from a mouse with a tumour cell you can create a hybridoma. These can be cloned to get lots of identical cells. The cells produce the same antibodies as each other which can be collected. You can also make monoclonal antibodies bind to anything.

A hormone called HCG is found in urine when women are pregnant. When you wee on the stick it has some antibodies for the hormone with blue beads attached. The test ***** has some more antibodies to the hormone stuck to it. If you're pregnant, the hormone binds to the antibodies with the blue beads and the beads and hormone bind to the antibodies on the ***** turning it blue. If you're not pregnant the urine still moves up the stick carrying the blue beads but there's nohing to stick them to so it doesn't go blue. 

Different cells have different antigens so you can make monoclonal antibodies bind to any specific cell in the body. Cancer cells also have antigens that called tumour markers. In labs you can make monoclonal antibodies that bind to tumour markers and an anti-cancer drug can be attached. This means the drug kills the cancer cells and not the surrounding normal cells.

They can be used to:

• Bind to hormones and other chemicals in the blood to measure their levels
• Test blood samples in laboratories for certain pathogens
• Locate specific molecules on a cell or tissue by binding it to the specific antigen your looking for and by then binding it with a fluorescent dye whcih can be detected in the body

Monoclonal antibodies can be seen as very useful especially for cancer treatment as it is more effective and less damaging than chemotherapy however monoclonal antibodies do cause more side effects than expected as they can cause fever, vomiting and low blood pressure. This means they aren't as widely used as treatments as scientists originally thought they would be.