The Nobel Prize shared on LinkedIn:

“Did you know that we have millions of different antibodies, but each white blood cell in our immune system produces only one kind of antibody?

In 1975 Georges Köhler and Cesar Milstein developed a method to fuse a normal antibody-producing cell with a tumour cell, forming a hybrid that was both immortal and could create a specific antibody. Their hybrid cell could produce antibodies of the same type – monoclonal antibodies – in whatever quantities are needed for research and medicine.

The production of monoclonal antibodies has enabled researchers to improve tests for infectious diseases, design completely new therapeutic strategies for diseases such as cancer, better explain the mechanisms behind autoimmune diseases and suppress rejection in organ transplants among other breakthroughs.

While the market for monoclonal antibodies is now worth billions of dollars, Köhler and Milstein did not patent their technique or benefit financially by forming a company, instead remaining in research.

Köhler shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Niels K. Jerne and César Milstein. Learn more about their work.

Image: Anti-Cancer Antibodies. Small chemical ornaments (cones) slow the release of anti-cancer antibodies (blue) from this functionalised mesoporous silica (orange).”