Modern mass spectrometry

By Stephen W. Holman2010-05-01T00:00:00

Source: Geoff Tompkinson/Science photo library

Advances in mass spectrometry (MS) technology over the past 30 years have pushed this technique into the hands of biologists and biochemists

Mass spectrometry (MS) relies, among other things, on two fundamental criteria. The atom or compound of interest must be ionised to generate charged species, and these are then mass analysed to determine their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio. From the m/z values, physicists have investigated the properties of stable isotopes and chemists have been able to deduce the structure of small organic molecules. Further, MS is increasingly finding application in solving biological problems.

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