Question

Hybridoma technology has been successfully used in

• A. Production of alcohol in bulk
• B. Synthesis of monoclonal antibodies
• C. Synthesis of haemoglobin
• D. Production of somatic hybrids

Answer 1

The correct option is B Synthesis of monoclonal antibodies

Hybridoma technologyis a method for producing large numbers of identical antibodies(also calledmonoclonal antibodies). This process starts by injecting a mouse with anantigenthat provokes an immune response. A type of white blood cell, theB cellthat produces antibodies that bind to the antigen are then harvested from the mouse. These isolated B cells are in turn fused with immortal B cell cancer cells, amyeloma, to produce a hybridcell linecalled ahybridoma, which has both the antibody-producing ability of the B-cell and the exaggerated longevity and reproductivity of the myeloma. The hybridomas can be grown in culture, each culture starting with one viable hybridoma cell, producing cultures each of which consists of genetically identical hybridomas which produce one antibody per culture (monoclonal) rather than mixtures of different antibodies (polyclonal).