Hybridoma Technology

Hybridoma technology is a method for producing large amounts of identical antibodies, hence monoclonal antibodies, as opposed to the conventional polyclonal antibodies. Being foreign to human, the murine antibody is further chimerized via r-DNA technology to reduce its immunogenicity for therapeutic use.

Initially, a specific antigen is injected into a mouse Then, antibody-producing cells are collected from the mouse’s spleen The antibody-producing cells are fused with myeloma cells to form hybrid cells for rapid growth (thus the term hybridoma technology) The hybrid cells are used to produce antibodies in large amounts for therapeutic or diagnostic use. Since antibodies produced in the mouse are potentially immunogenic, they are subsequently chimerized (humanized) to improve human adaptation