Isotope analysis. Applications

Stable isotope analysis is increasingly used in many fields, including biochemistry and pharmacology, the environment, geochemistry and cosmochemistry.

Increased accuracy and sensitivity of measurements give access to the determination of reaction mechanisms in the life sciences, precise dating and ultratrace analysis, while visualization processes enable us to study diffusions in solids, or, in vivo, to follow fluid movements in living beings.

The techniques used to measure stable isotopes can also be applied to radioactive isotopes, provided the necessary safeguards are in place and their lifetime is not too short. After giving the necessary introduction to what natural isotopic abundances are, and how they vary, we first describe the applications enabled by isotopic measurements, in contrast to the usual practice.