monoclonal antibody


noun Biotechnology.

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

Origin of monoclonal antibody

First recorded in 1970–75

Words nearby monoclonal antibody

British Dictionary definitions for monoclonal antibody

monoclonal antibody
/ (ˌmɒnəʊˈkləʊnəl) /

noun

an antibody, produced by a single clone of cells grown in culture, that is both pure and specific and is capable of proliferating indefinitely to produce unlimited quantities of identical antibodies: used in diagnosis, therapy, and biotechnology

Medical definitions for monoclonal antibody

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.