monoclonal antibodies.

Question 1

what are monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 1

antibodies that carry useful chemical markers or treatments

Question 2

why are a set of monoclonal antibodies identical?

Answer 2

they are produced in large quantities from the same hybridoma cells

Question 3

how are monoclonal antibodies formed?

Answer 3

1. An antigen is injected into a mouse.
2. The mouse naturally produces lymphocytes, which produce antibodies specific to the antigen. Lymphocytes can no longer divide once it has started to make antibodies.
3. Cancer cells divide continuously, but don’t produce antibodies
4. a hybridoma cell is formed by fusing a lymphocyte cell from the mouse and a cancer cell
5. the hybridoma cell divides and produced antibodies that are all the same and are specific to the antigen

Question 4

what are the three uses of monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 4

pregnancy tests
diagnosis of diseases
treatment of diseases

Question 5

how are monoclonal antibodies used in pregnancy tests?

Answer 5

they identify if the pregnancy hormone is present in urine
the monoclonal antibody matches the hormone and causes a reaction with an indicator

Question 6

how are monoclonal antibodies used in the diagnosis of diseases?

Answer 6

they can stick to blood clots or cancer cells so they can be detected
blood clots need to be detected and treated to prevent blockage of arteries, especially in the heart and brain

Question 7

how are monoclonal antibodies used in the treatment of diseases?

Answer 7

as well as aiding detection, the way monoclonal antibodies can target specific cells can be used as treatment

for example, the cancer drug can attach to a monoclonal antibody that only targets cancer cells, so the drug is only delivered to the cells that need to be killed