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The Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (SRS) is an international society providing academic and intellectual support for radiopharmaceutical science. At the heart of all nuclear imaging, radiopharmaceutical science is the design, synthesis and evaluation of compounds containing suitable radionuclides that can be used in vivo to (trace) follow a particular physiological or biochemical phenomena.
Radiopharmaceutical chemistry since its inception has addressed the issue of molecular chemistry. Radiopharmaceuticals are unique in their ability to monitor low density sites such as receptors and enzymes. Moreover, given the high specific activity of radioligands and the high sensitivity of external detection of radiation, measurements can be made, based on the tracer principle, without disturbing the biochemical system.
With the recent completion of the structural of the genome, the discussion now turns to what role molecular imaging can play in applying this genetic information to phenotypic alterations in chemistry in the body. These phenotypes, i.e., measurable attributes such as a change in enzyme activity or a change in receptor concentration compared with normal levels, are characteristic of an individual and should yield important information in studying the effects of the therapy. Given that the phenotypic expression product is a key to the progression of the disease, this has been and will remain the target for radiotracer studies. In addition, the use of therapeutic radionuclides is an important endeavor of radiopharmaceutical chemistry, and research in this area must be preserved.
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