Poll of the Day > Someone explain radioimmunoassay (RIA) to me real quick

(+) Yeah! (+)

kthx

We had some samples analyzed by an outside company, but they used this technique I'm not familiar with instead of something I know like an ELISA

I can totally wiki this, but I won't

You need to tell me

Make it up if you want

I don't care

It means to pull down their pants when they are not looking.

So, when somebody from another company goes to yours, pull down their pants.

Oh yeah, we learned about this technique in an endocrinology class I took a while back.

Basically you radiolable your molecule of interest and combine it with antibodies specific to it. Then you mix this with your non-radiolabeled sample. The non-radiolabeled molecules displace the radiolabled molecules from the antibodies in a way that is predictable, and proportional to the concentration of non-radiolabled molecules in the sample. You can determine the amount of displacement by measuring the radioactivity in the liquid phase after centrifugation.

I think that's how it works.

I believe it's usually a matter of gluing a radioactive label to an antibody for the substance you're looking to measure, then mixing it with your sample and seeing how much radiation sticks to determine quantities and/or distribution of the target substance.
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