A BRIEF REVIEW ON HYBRIDOMA TECHNOLOGY: FUNCTIONAL PARAMETERS

Abstract

Hybridoma technology is the method by which large quantities of identical antibodies, known as monoclonal antibodies, are produced. This is achieved by administering an antigen to a mouse, which mounts an immune response. Antibody-producing B cells are then harvested from the immunised mouse and fused with immortal myeloma cells. This fusion produces a hybrid cell line, the hybridoma, which combines the antibody-producing capacity of the B cell with the myeloma cell's ability to proliferate indefinitely in culture. A single hybridoma cell can be cloned to establish cultures of genetically identical daughter cells, each secreting the same monoclonal antibody. The myeloma fusion partner itself, by contrast, is selected specifically because it does not produce antibody, so that all antibody detected in the culture originates from the fused B cell.