I would be interested to have a similarly 'easy' explanation of how the
radioactive tracer works.

I will try.  Some molecules, like carbon, have both a stable isotope (carbon 12) and an unstable "radioactive" one (carbon 14).  There is a natural equilibrium between these two molecules that is heavily biased towards carbon 12.   If some of the carbon 12s on a molecule of interest are substituted for carbon 14, this makes that molecule detectable because it is emitting gamma radiation.  See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon-14


As the authors in the paper state, there are limits of detection.  Not all molecules of interest will emit radiation, but most of them will.  And not all molecules of interest will have the label, so those won't be radioactive, at all.  In the study under discussion, they claim they can account for 98% of the IMI.

Christina

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