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News

06 Sep 2021

Setting it Straight: The monoclonal antibody story part 4: mAbs and the end of the age of innocence

Following Kohler and Milstein’s discovery (#71, #72) of how to make lots of an identical monoclonal antibody (mAb) by fusing immune B cells from a mouse to a mouse myeloma cell line, a new industry became established that was soon providing a spectrum of defined reagents. We now had standardised, very specific, commercially available products that allowed us to identify, say, viral and cell-surface proteins in both mice and humans with ease and precision. The mAbs immediately became a gold standard for both research and clinical laboratories.