Analyses for naturally occurring biological substances or administered
materials have been with us for many years. These were usually based on
the physical or chemical characteristics of the substances to be
measured. However in recent years there has been an explosion of
interest in analytical methods which made use of the high specificity
and sensitivity of im- munological reactions. These methods can be very
simple in terms of technical procedures and can usually be performed on
minute samples of biological fluids - factors which have ensured their
ready acceptance in most laboratories. Recently there have been numerous
meetings on technical aspects of particular immunoassays and on their
application in specific diseases. We felt however that the time was ripe
for an 'overview' of the whole field. To this end a conference on
'Immunoassays for the 80s' was held at the Zoological Society of London
in 1980, and this book is largely based on that meeting. Both the
immunoassay techniques and their numerous applications were discussed
and are dealt with at length in this volume. The editors wish to thank
all the contributors for their chapters and to acknowledge the debt they
owe to Jean Ryan (NLCM) without whose organization and assistance this
volume would not have been completed. A.V., D.B., A.B.