You are a lab technician trying to construct a line of cells that secrete a monoclonal antibody. You immunize mice with antigen, isolate B cells from the spleen, and fuse them with myeloma cells. After several weeks of screening and growing cells, you are no closer to a monoclonal antibody cell line, and that several of the cultures that are growing rapidly are not hybridomas. You also find several cultures that are slowly dying. You suspect a problem with your fusion step, so you order new myeloma cells. It is expensive to immunize mice, so you have to pick a few of the cultures to fuse with your new myeloma cells. Which of the following cells would you pick?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The slowly-dying cells are more likely to be B cells that have not successfully fused with myeloma cells, as they lack the ability to proliferate indefinitely. These cells are more likely to produce the desired monoclonal antibodies once successfully fused with new myeloma cells.

You Are a Lab Technician Trying to Construct a Line