Patent ID: 6977141

Claim:
A method for analyzing a sample comprising: a) providing a sample containing at least two molecular species, wherein at least one of the at least two molecular species provided is a substrate for an enzyme-catalyzed reaction or a series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and another of the at least two molecular species is a product of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction or series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, and at least one of the molecular species is capable of stimulating scintillation; b) providing a scintillating material, wherein the surface of the scintillating material adsorbs at least one of the molecular species via a general molecular property-based binding interaction between the molecular species and the scintillating material, and where the scintillating material is stimulated to scintillate above background by at least one of the adsorbed molecular species, but is not stimulated to scintillate above background by any molecular species which is not adsorbed; c) measuring the scintillation emitted by the scintillation material; wherein the adsorption of the molecular species to the scintillating material is due to a chemical or biochemical transformation of one of said molecular species into another of said molecular species and the substrate, prior to transformation, is not adsorbed on or into the scintillating material; and d) determining the progress of or degree of completion of the molecular transformation; wherein the reaction product of the chemical or biochemical transformation binds to the scintillating material, and at least one of the reactants of said chemical or biochemical transformation does not bind to the scintillating material.