Use of Radioactive Material In Undergraduate Laboratory Exercises

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2014, Volume 35

Mike Adams

Abstract

We have had a departmental radiation license for over 25 years, and have used this to develop a variety of laboratory exercises for undergraduates. We introduce students to working with radioactivity at the sophomore level, with a simple uptake and incorporation experiment using 35S. This is expanded in upper level courses to include examination of protein synthesis in the presence of antibiotics, induction of heat shock proteins, hormone assays, use of pulse-chase techniques and autoradiography. Examples of specific exercises will be presented, with results and analyses, as well as information on what is involved in applying for a license, along with the required reporting and safety regulations.

Keywords:  radioactive

University of Calgary (2013)