Antibodies breakthrough after 25 years of research

This week a researcher at the University of Cambridge publishes details of a discovery which may help to prevent and treat a wide range of diseases, including cancer and AIDS. Dr Abraham Karpas of the department of haematology, has invented a process with the potential to produce any type of human antibody in the test-tube.

"This process could produce antibodies for use in research and diagnosis, and also therapeutic antibodies, which could benefit people suffering from infectious diseases, cancers and perhaps even autoimmune disorders," explained Dr Karpas.

Details of Dr Karpas' new techniques are published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

Commenting on the practical applications of the new technique, Dr Anne DobrEe of the University's Wolfson Industrial Liaison Office said: "We are looking forward to working with Dr Karpas to realise the potential this exciting new technology holds for the creation of novel therapeutics which will benefit patients".

The discovery builds on previous work carried out by Cesar Milstein and Georges Kohler at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. In 1975 they invented the hybridoma technique for producing monoclonal antibodies, a discovery for which they were awarded a Nobel Prize. They immortalised antibody producing cells by fusing them with myeloma cells which are tumour cells that have the machinery to produce antibodies. The resulting hybridoma cell that produces a specific antibody and all its daughter cells produce identical antibody molecules. The method allows unlimited production of monoclonal antibodies with predetermined specificity and has been of great benefit in medical research and diagnosis.

However, their technique only worked with mouse myeloma cells and since 1975 researchers across the world have been trying to replicate the process with human cells. Repeated failures led to a widespread belief that it could not be done and more recently resources have been ploughed into complex and costly alternatives to the Milstein method. Whilst these have enjoyed some success, they are unlikely ever to create the ideal antibodies that are usually produced by the human body.

Dr Cesar Milstein, whose own laboratory tried and failed to produce human monocolonal antibodies, praised the new breakthrough: "This is a substantial achievement - Dr Karpas has solved a puzzle which has bedevilled laboratories across the world for over 20 years. This discovery offers many interesting possibilities in biotechnology and research."