AbstractBiologically active substances are often effective in nanogram or even smaller quantities. Investigations of their mode of action therefore require highly sensitive microanalytical methods of detection. Chemical, chromatographic or spectrometric methods frequently lack the required sensitivity; it was only after the discovery of the radioimmunoassay (RIA) that quantitative determination of minute amounts of substances in the presence of a millionfold excess of other compounds became possible. The radioimmunoassay combines the extreme sensitivity of detection of radioactively labeled substances with the high specificity of immunological reactions. The superiority of radioimmunological methods over other analytical techniques rests upon their sensitivity, specificity, facile application, and especially their broad general scope.