Radioisotopes in Biology

This book helps the research scientist to understand what is involved in the use of radioactive compounds and provides protocols for their use. Advice on legislation, guidance on safe handling and detailed recipes are provided.

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The book provides an introduction to the use of radioactivity in the bioscience laboratory. An introduction sets the scene, before two chapters that cover general aspects of radioactivity. Methods for the detection of radioactivity are covered in two chapters that deal with scintillation counting and autoradiography. Four chapters are concerned with the radioisotope protocols used to study key cellular processes: radiolabelling of nucleic acids and proteins, subcellular localisation and identification of macromolecules, immunoassay methods and pharmacological techniques. Two chapters provide a summary of legislative requirements in the USA and European Union and there is an Appendix of useful facts and addresses.