Recruitment of circulating monocytes into the artery wall is an important feature of early atherogenesis. In vitro studies have identified a number of adhesion molecules and chemokines that may control this process but very little work has been done to evaluate their relative importance in vivo, in part because there have been no methods available of sufficient sensitivity and reliability. This paper proposes a new approach in which advantage is taken of naturally occurring or transgenically induced mutations to "mark" donor cells and to follow their fate in recipient animals using highly sensitive PCR methods. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated by preliminary studies of monocyte recruitment into atherosclerotic lesions. However, the method should in principle be applicable to the study of any of the circulating leukocytes and their rate of entry into any tissue or tissues of interest.