Monoclonal antibodies (hybridoma technique)
Anticuerpos monoclonales (hibridomas)
- Date
- 1975 · confidence high
- Place
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Georges Köhler and César Milstein (Nobel 1984); humanisation by Greg Winter (1986)
- People
- 👤 César Milstein1927–2002👤 Georges Köhler1946–1995
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Method for producing unlimited quantities of an identical antibody by fusing lymphocytes with tumour cells. Never patented, it became the basis of the best-selling drugs of the 21st century.
What it led to
- Biologic drugs against cancer and autoimmunity (Herceptin, Humira, Keytruda)
- Rapid diagnostic tests (pregnancy, COVID)
- Cancer immunotherapy
- diagnostics (pregnancy tests, ELISA, immunohistochemistry)
- the world's best-selling biologic drugs (adalimumab, trastuzumab, pembrolizumab)
- cancer immunotherapy
- antibody humanisation (Winter)
Built on
- Clonal selection theory1957
- Recombinant DNA genetic engineering1973
- Recombinant DNA (later use)
- cell culture
- clonal immunology (Burnet)
Made possible
- Home diagnostics: glucose meter and pregnancy test1970-1977
- Humanised antibodies by CDR grafting (Winter)1986
- Chimeric T-cell receptor (Eshhar's CAR concept)1989
- Immune checkpoint blockade (CTLA-4, PD-1)1992-2011
- CAR-T cell therapy (Kymriah)2017
- Herceptin
- Immune checkpoint blockade (CTLA-4, PD-1)
- antigen test
- therapeutic antibodies
- rapid tests