the invention relates to a method of generating human monoclonal antibodies suitable as therapeutic candidates from a pool of human peripheral blood lymphocytes extracted from a number of individuals who have all been exposed to the same disease antigen . peripheral blood lymphocytes extracted from said individuals are immortalized , and a high throughput functional screening assay of the immortalized lymphocytes against target cells associated with or affected by the disease is peformed , in which the target cells are coated onto microbeads and placed in wells formed in one of the ends of a bundle of optical fibers , and wherein changes to the target cells resulting from the assay can be optically detected at the opposite end of the bundle . the immortalized lymphocytes producing human antibodies having specific , desired effects on the target cells , as determined by the assay are selected , grown , and the antibodies are further characterized , in order to select therapeutic candidate antibodies . also described is a method of screening antibodies against peptide libraries , where the peptides represent or encompass known disease epitopes .