New York (PTI): Designer labels have a lot of cachet -- a principle that's true both in fashion and physics, for scientists have claimed that designer isotopes will push the frontier of science in the future.

"The future of nuclear physics is in designer isotopes which would help in solving solve scientific problems and open doors to new technologies. We have developed a capability over the last ten or so years that allows us to build a specific isotope to use in research.

"It is a new tool that promises to allow whole new directions in research to move forward. There are tremendous advances that are possible," the 'ScienceDaily' quoted Bradley Sherrill of Michigan State University as saying.

Isotopes are the different versions of an element. Their nuclei have different numbers of neutrons, and thus give them different properties.

Rare isotopes don't always exist in nature -- they must be coaxed out with high-energy collisions created by special machines, like those in the university's Coupled Cyclotron facility. As technology advances, newer equipment is needed.

The next step will be the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, a world-leading facility for the study of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics, expected to be built by the US Department of Energy sometime in the next decade.