The antibodies are characterized as monoclonal because they are produced by identical cells that have one single common ancestor.

Georges Köhler and César Milstein developed the method for making large quantities of antibodies directed at specific targets. For this discovery they shared the 1984 Nobel Prize with Neils Jerne, whose earlier theoretical contributions helped lead them to it. The monoclonal antibodies produced by their method have had great importance to modern medicine and research in immunology.