Generation of monoclonal progesterone antibodies by electrofusion techniques

The generation of monoclonal antibodies by electrofusion techniques has advanced the efficiency of B-cell immortalisation over 'PEG' fusion techniques by greater than 100 fold and also allows for the manipulation of hundreds of cells compared to millions as in the later technique. Most researchers in this field at present have equipment which is highly specialised and machined 'in-house' or expensive commercial electrofusion apparatus which precludes small laboratories with limited access to either machine shops or research facilities from using this technique, We present here data showing that it is possible to make a small switching device and couple this to readily available commercial electroporation instruments making an efficient electrofusion device that a competent electronics technician could accomplish readily. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.