Isotopimerkintä

Isotopimerkintä, known in English as isotopic labeling or isotopic tracing, is a technique used in various scientific fields, including chemistry, biology, and medicine. It involves the substitution of one or more atoms in a molecule with atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons. These substituted atoms are called isotopes. The most common isotopes used for labeling are stable isotopes like deuterium (hydrogen-2), carbon-13, nitrogen-15, and oxygen-18, or radioactive isotopes such as tritium (hydrogen-3), carbon-14, and phosphorus-32.

The purpose of isotopimerkintä is to track the movement or transformation of a specific molecule or substance within a system. By incorporating a detectable isotope into a molecule, scientists can follow its pathway through complex biological processes, chemical reactions, or environmental cycles. The presence of the labeled atoms can then be detected using various analytical methods, such as mass spectrometry for stable isotopes or scintillation counting and autoradiography for radioactive isotopes.

In biological research, isotopimerkintä is invaluable for studying metabolic pathways, understanding drug absorption and distribution, and investigating protein synthesis and degradation. In chemistry, it helps elucidate reaction mechanisms and determine the fate of reactants and products. Environmental scientists use it to trace pollutants or study nutrient cycling. The choice of isotope depends on the specific application, with stable isotopes offering a non-radioactive alternative and radioactive isotopes often providing higher sensitivity for detection.