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This lesson covers monoclonal antibodies — a Higher Tier only topic for AQA GCSE Biology. Monoclonal antibodies are identical copies of a single type of antibody, produced in the laboratory. They have a wide range of applications in medicine and research, including pregnancy testing, disease diagnosis, and targeted cancer treatment.
Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies that are all identical — they are produced from a single clone of cells. Because they are all the same, they all bind to the same specific antigen. This makes them extremely useful as precise, targeted tools.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Monoclonal | Derived from a single clone (one type of cell) |
| Antibody | A Y-shaped protein produced by lymphocytes that binds to a specific antigen |
| Monoclonal antibody | An identical antibody produced in large quantities from a single clone of cells |
| Hybridoma | A cell created by fusing a lymphocyte with a tumour cell, capable of dividing indefinitely and producing antibodies |
The production of monoclonal antibodies involves several key steps:
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