Abstract
Expected trends for the development of new methods and different applications of isotopes in agriculture, medicine and industrial production are discussed. In agriculture stable-isotope-labelled compounds can also be applied in field studies on the fate and metabolic processes of pesticide residues, as well as in long-lasting experiments on animal nutrition. Radioactive isotopes will continue to play a predominant role in trace element investigations, especially studies on the interaction and synergism of various trace elements in soil, plants and animals. The use of radioactive-labelled substrates and reagents will also become indispensable in enzyme research. Of the many other applications of isotopes in agriculture which might develop further, one item should be mentioned: the importance of non-radioactive labelling in ecology. Two areas of radiation application in agriculture may expect some progress from the use of neutron irradiation instead of gamma rays: plant breeding and the sterile insect technique (SIT). The advantage of sterilizing male insects by neutrons instead of gamma rays has become apparent with tsetse flies, which suffer less physiological harm when exposed to moderate neutron doses and, though sterile, remain fully competitive with wild tsetse fly males. There are also considerable further developments to be expected in the medical field.
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Glubrecht, H
[1]
- Institut fuer Biophysik, Technische Universitaet Hannover (Germany)
Citation Formats
Glubrecht, H.
Future trends in the application of isotopes and radiation.
IAEA: N. p.,
1977.
Web.
Glubrecht, H.
Future trends in the application of isotopes and radiation.
IAEA.
Glubrecht, H.
1977.
"Future trends in the application of isotopes and radiation."
IAEA.
@misc{etde_21046052,
title = {Future trends in the application of isotopes and radiation}
author = {Glubrecht, H}
abstractNote = {Expected trends for the development of new methods and different applications of isotopes in agriculture, medicine and industrial production are discussed. In agriculture stable-isotope-labelled compounds can also be applied in field studies on the fate and metabolic processes of pesticide residues, as well as in long-lasting experiments on animal nutrition. Radioactive isotopes will continue to play a predominant role in trace element investigations, especially studies on the interaction and synergism of various trace elements in soil, plants and animals. The use of radioactive-labelled substrates and reagents will also become indispensable in enzyme research. Of the many other applications of isotopes in agriculture which might develop further, one item should be mentioned: the importance of non-radioactive labelling in ecology. Two areas of radiation application in agriculture may expect some progress from the use of neutron irradiation instead of gamma rays: plant breeding and the sterile insect technique (SIT). The advantage of sterilizing male insects by neutrons instead of gamma rays has become apparent with tsetse flies, which suffer less physiological harm when exposed to moderate neutron doses and, though sterile, remain fully competitive with wild tsetse fly males. There are also considerable further developments to be expected in the medical field. In vivo radionuclide imaging, if done by scanning, can only inform on local distribution of a radioactive-labelled pharmaceutical. Dynamic studies of function and physiologic processes have to be performed by using gamma-cameras which combine spatial localization with time variation. Short-lived radioisotopes, including cyclotron-produced positron emitters, are becoming more available, and the list of industrially manufactured radiopharmaceuticals is increasing. A most important development is tomography with positron emitters using annihilation gamma radiation. One of the most successful methods in clinical medicine and biomedical research is radioimmunoassay (RIA). Measurement of elemental composition of human body samples also has a high diagnostic value for large-scale screening of infectious and non-infectious diseases. Strong increase is to be foreseen in the application of gauges and other radiation analytical methods. Promising techniques in the petrol industry are the quantitative determination of hydrocarbon saturation by the use of pulsed-neutron capture logs and logs based on measurements of gamma rays from inelastic neutron scattering. Mineral exploration and mining may strongly profit from the development of portable EDXRF instruments using isotopic sources and high resolution Si(Li) detectors. In basic studies of process dynamics, tracer techniques may play an increasing role, particularly in the optimization of low-grade ore exploitation. Ionizing radiation can produce cross-linking and grafting in plastic and rubber. It is to be expected that more attention will be paid to these energy-saving processes in the future. The use of ?natural? isotope measurements ({sup 14}C, {sup 3}H) and of isotope ratios ({sup 2}H/{sup 1}H, {sup 18}O/{sup 16}O) has probably reached the highest level of sophistication in its application to problems associated with the assessment of water resources. The world-wide energy problem has prompted a new assessment of the potential of geothermal sources of energy. Environmental isotopes are being used in the hydrological study of geothermal systems environmental control and monitoring without making use of nuclear methods. NAA and EDXRF allow fast screening of more than 30 elements of importance in environmental pollution control. Future trends can be described by extrapolating from the present situation. Although the trends discussed in this paper may change it is clear that isotopes and radiation have an increasingly wide field of application i and strong future developments.}
journal = []
issue = {6}
volume = {19}
place = {IAEA}
year = {1977}
month = {Dec}
}
title = {Future trends in the application of isotopes and radiation}
author = {Glubrecht, H}
abstractNote = {Expected trends for the development of new methods and different applications of isotopes in agriculture, medicine and industrial production are discussed. In agriculture stable-isotope-labelled compounds can also be applied in field studies on the fate and metabolic processes of pesticide residues, as well as in long-lasting experiments on animal nutrition. Radioactive isotopes will continue to play a predominant role in trace element investigations, especially studies on the interaction and synergism of various trace elements in soil, plants and animals. The use of radioactive-labelled substrates and reagents will also become indispensable in enzyme research. Of the many other applications of isotopes in agriculture which might develop further, one item should be mentioned: the importance of non-radioactive labelling in ecology. Two areas of radiation application in agriculture may expect some progress from the use of neutron irradiation instead of gamma rays: plant breeding and the sterile insect technique (SIT). The advantage of sterilizing male insects by neutrons instead of gamma rays has become apparent with tsetse flies, which suffer less physiological harm when exposed to moderate neutron doses and, though sterile, remain fully competitive with wild tsetse fly males. There are also considerable further developments to be expected in the medical field. In vivo radionuclide imaging, if done by scanning, can only inform on local distribution of a radioactive-labelled pharmaceutical. Dynamic studies of function and physiologic processes have to be performed by using gamma-cameras which combine spatial localization with time variation. Short-lived radioisotopes, including cyclotron-produced positron emitters, are becoming more available, and the list of industrially manufactured radiopharmaceuticals is increasing. A most important development is tomography with positron emitters using annihilation gamma radiation. One of the most successful methods in clinical medicine and biomedical research is radioimmunoassay (RIA). Measurement of elemental composition of human body samples also has a high diagnostic value for large-scale screening of infectious and non-infectious diseases. Strong increase is to be foreseen in the application of gauges and other radiation analytical methods. Promising techniques in the petrol industry are the quantitative determination of hydrocarbon saturation by the use of pulsed-neutron capture logs and logs based on measurements of gamma rays from inelastic neutron scattering. Mineral exploration and mining may strongly profit from the development of portable EDXRF instruments using isotopic sources and high resolution Si(Li) detectors. In basic studies of process dynamics, tracer techniques may play an increasing role, particularly in the optimization of low-grade ore exploitation. Ionizing radiation can produce cross-linking and grafting in plastic and rubber. It is to be expected that more attention will be paid to these energy-saving processes in the future. The use of ?natural? isotope measurements ({sup 14}C, {sup 3}H) and of isotope ratios ({sup 2}H/{sup 1}H, {sup 18}O/{sup 16}O) has probably reached the highest level of sophistication in its application to problems associated with the assessment of water resources. The world-wide energy problem has prompted a new assessment of the potential of geothermal sources of energy. Environmental isotopes are being used in the hydrological study of geothermal systems environmental control and monitoring without making use of nuclear methods. NAA and EDXRF allow fast screening of more than 30 elements of importance in environmental pollution control. Future trends can be described by extrapolating from the present situation. Although the trends discussed in this paper may change it is clear that isotopes and radiation have an increasingly wide field of application i and strong future developments.}
journal = []
issue = {6}
volume = {19}
place = {IAEA}
year = {1977}
month = {Dec}
}