Inorganic biochemistry with short-lived radioisotopes as nuclear probes

Metal ions are ubiquitous in the biosphere. In living organisms metalloprot eins with specifically designed metal cores perform vital chemical processe s. On the other hand, several heavy metals are detrimental to living organi sms and nature has developed effective enzymatic detoxification systems whi ch convert toxic metal ions to less toxic species. The nuclear spectroscopy technique Time Differential Perturbed Angular Correlation (TDPAC) of gamma -rays uses radioactive isotopes as nuclear probes in these metal cores to obtain a better understanding of the structural and functional significance of these metal cores by monitoring the nuclear quadrupole interaction of t he TDPAC probe. Since this technique is based on the nuclear decay, it is a lso applicable under physiological conditions, i.e., especially at picomola r concentrations. For these studies an indispensable prerequisite is the pr oduction of the TDPAC probes with highest possible specific activity and pu rity as is done by the on-line mass separator ISOLDE at CERN in Geneva.