Interview: 2004?In 1977, Dr. Rosalyn Yalow became a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of the radioimmunoassay (RIA). Unfortunately, his colleague, Solomon Berson, died before he could receive his share of the prize. At an early age, Yalow was primarily interested in mathematics and chemistry. However, when she began her studies at Hunter Women's College in New York, she became fascinated with physics and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois. In 1945, he received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Illinois. Yalow became very skilled at designing devices for measuring radioactive substances due to the focus of his research on nuclear physics. He kindly agreed to this interview in hopes of enlightening future researchers. Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Yalow. Can you tell us a little about RIA and what led you to develop it? The RIA is a binding test that uses radioisotopes to measure the amount of antigen in a sample. Solomon and I developed RIA while studying insulin. Before our work, it was widely believed that diabetes was caused by a deficiency in insulin secretion. However, we have disproved this theory by developing a radioisotope technique to study antibody-antigen reactions. Using radiolabeled insulin, we found that insulin degradation was slower in patients who had previously received exogenous insulin as part of treatment for diabetes or schizophrenia. We hypothesized that the slower degradation was caused by insulin binding to antibodies produced in response to exogenous insulin treatment. However, at the time there was no technique sensitive and specific enough to allow us to detect the small amount…half of the paper…exploring ideas that interest you. We need more scientists willing to go against the grain and challenge our current understanding of the world. This is how scientific discoveries are born.Allergological application of RIAThe radioallergoabsorbent test (RAST) is an RIA test that allows the detection and quantification of IgE antibodies. During the test, a possible allergen is bound to the insoluble material and a sample of the patient's blood is added. If the blood sample contains antibodies specific to that allergen, the antibodies will bind to that allergen. Radiolabeled anti-human IgE antibodies are then added which bind only to antibodies already bound to the insoluble material. The entire sample is then wUnbound anti-human antibodies are washed away and the level of radioactivity is proportional to the amount of human IgE present in the blood sample.