| antibody produced by a laboratory-grown cell clone, either of a hybridoma or a virus-transformed lymphocyte, that is more abundant and uniform than natural antibody and is able to bind specifically to a single site on almost any chosen antigen or reveal previously unknown antigen sites: used as an analytic tool in scientific research and medical diagnosis and potentially important in the treatment of certain diseases. Abbreviation: MAb |
| monoclonal antibody n. Any of the highly specific antibodies produced in large quantity by the clones of a single hybrid cell formed in the laboratory by the fusion of a B cell with a tumor cell. |
monoclonal antibody n.
Any of a class of highly specific antibodies produced by the clones of a single hybrid cell formed in the laboratory by the fusion of a B cell with a tumor cell and widely used in medical and biological research.
monoclonal antibody
antibody produced artificially by a genetic engineering technique. Production of monoclonal antibodies was one of the most important techniques of biotechnology to emerge during the last quarter of the 20th century. When activated by an antigen, a circulating B cell multiplies to form a clone of plasma cells, each secreting identical immunoglobulin molecules. It is such immunoglobulins-derived from the descendants of a single B cell-that are called monoclonal antibodies.
Learn more about monoclonal antibody with a free trial on Britannica.com.