Tailor-made antibodies created using a pioneering production method have the potential to transform the treatment of infectious diseases and possibly cancer, say scientists.

Cloned antibodies based on one of the immune system's main weapons are at the cutting edge of new drug research.

A number of these "magic bullet'' antibody medicines are already being used to tackle blood cancers and rheumatoid arthritis.

However, they are difficult to produce and expensive. The new technique opens up the possibility of rapidly mass-producing antibodies aimed at specific targets from samples of human blood.

In tests, researchers in the US were able to produce potent antibodies against influenza a month after vaccinating human volunteers.

The breakthrough could enable doctors to churn out protective human antibodies in time to prevent a flu pandemic disaster.