Fusing a cancer cell with an immune cell built an antibody factory

In 1975, Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein fused a myeloma cancer cell with an antibody-producing immune cell, creating a hybrid that multiplied endlessly while still making one exact antibody. Their 'hybridoma' technique let scientists mass-produce identical, targeted antibodies for the first time. It now underlies most diagnostic tests and antibody drugs, from pregnancy tests to cancer treatments. Neither patented it, and both shared the 1984 Nobel Prize.

— Georges Köhler and César Milstein, Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity — Nature, 1975