Final answer:
Monoclonal antibodies are produced using hybridoma technology. This involves fusing an immunized mouse's spleen B cells with myeloma cells to create hybrid cells that are then screened and cultured to produce specific antibodies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The method used for the production of monoclonal antibodies is the hybridoma technology. This complex process begins by immunizing an animal, usually a mouse, with a specific antigen to elicit an immune response. The animal's spleen B cells, which produce antibodies, are fused with cancerous myeloma cells, creating a hybrid cell capable of continuous growth and production of monoclonal antibodies in vitro.
Once hybridomas are formed, they are cultured and the antibodies they produce are harvested from the culture media. The hybridoma cells producing the desired antibody are selected and cloned to yield large quantities of highly specific monoclonal antibodies. Techniques such as ELISA may be used to screen and identify the specific hybridoma cells required for monoclonal antibody production.