Antibody engineering, a strategy for the development of monoclonal antibodies.

Antibody engineering is the selection process enabling the isolation of hybridoma clones, each of which produces an antibody with predefined qualities. The state of the art of hybridoma technology is reviewed with emphasis on the results obtained by antibody engineering in our laboratories for the development of monoclonal antibodies for specific use in diagnostic tests. The perspective for in vitro monoclonal antibody production as well as the application of monoclonal antibodies for diagnostic reagents, industrial purification and therapeutic use are indicated.