Using a scanning ion microprobe we analyzed the distribution of labelled thymidine along human chromosomes. Two labels have been used: bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU which contains one bromine atom per molecule) and 14C-thymidine (which contains either one or ten 14C atoms per molecule). Both types of labelled nucleosides can be detected with our insirument. Best results are obtained when using the uniformly labelled thymidine (U-14C-thymidine) and adding up in a KONTRON IBAS image processing system the sequential analytical maps acquired from the sample at mass 28 (14C14N ions). The distribution of thymidine is heterogeneous along the chromosomes and a banding pattern can be observed on the pictures (SIMS-bands). The spatial resolution obtained with our scanning ion microprobe (the University of Chicago Scanning Ion Microprobe: UC-SIM) surpasses the one of autoradiography which is the common direct method of localization of labelled nucleosides. 1.