Monoclonal Antibodies as a Shield Against Nipah Virus Outbreak | PWOnlyIAS 2023

PWOnlyIAS

September 29, 2023

Context:

  • India reached out to Australia to procure monoclonal antibody doses to combat the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala.
What is Antibody or immunoglobulin ?

  • An antibody attaches itself to an antigen – a foreign substance, usually a disease-causing molecule – and helps the immune system eliminate it from the body.

What are Monoclonal Antibodies?

  • Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the behaviour of antibodies produced by the immune system to protect against diseases and foreign substances.
  • They are produced through a process that involves extracting specific antibodies from human blood and then cloning them.
  • They are specifically designed to target certain antigens.
  • Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler and César Milstein were awarded the medicine Nobel Prize in 1984 for their work on “the principle for production of monoclonal antibodiesâ€.

Development of Monoclonal Bodies:

  • Dr. Köhler and Dr. Milstein, who established a generation of monoclonal antibodies for use in humans in 1975, used this principle to describe the hybridoma.
    • Hybridoma is a fusion cell made up of B cells (white blood cells that produce antibodies) and myeloma cells (abnormal plasma cells).
  •  These hybrid cells allowed the researchers to produce a single antibody clone, which came to be known as a monoclonal antibody.

How do monoclonal antibodies work?

  • Monoclonal antibodies are specifically engineered and generated to target a disease. 
  • They are meant to attach themselves to the specific disease-causing antigen. An antigen is most likely to be a protein.
    • For Example: 
      • REGEN-COV2 is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies developed to target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. 
      • The monoclonal antibodies bind to specific parts of the spike protein, blocking its ability to infect healthy cells.

What is m102.4?

  • According to research published in The Lancet journal of Infectious Diseases, m102.4 is a “potent, fully human†monoclonal antibody.
About ‘Compassionate use’ Basis:

  • ‘Compassionate use’ basis is a treatment option that allows the use of an unauthorized medicine under strict conditions among people where no other alternative and/or satisfactory authorized treatment is known to be possible and where patients cannot enter clinical trials for various reasons.
  • It neutralizes Hendra and Nipah viruses, both outside and inside of living organisms. 
  • The m102.4 monoclonal antibody was first developed by Dr. Christopher Broder and his team at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Present Clinical Status: As of now, the drug is used on a ‘compassionate use’ basis.

 

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Quick Revise Now !
UDAAN PRELIMS WALLAH
Comprehensive coverage with a concise format
Integration of PYQ within the booklet
Designed as per recent trends of Prelims questions
हिंदी में भी उपलबà¥à¤§

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