ABSTRACT
This chapter will concentrate on the steps needed to develop and optimise a competitive radioimmunoassay, making the assumption that a high quality tracer is available. The general principles that will be outlined are also applicable to other immunoassays, such as fluoro-and chemiluminescent immunoassays. The development and optimisation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), which are different in a number of respects to competitive radioimmunoassays, will be dealt with separately (Chapter 7).
