Radioisotopes in Biology

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.