Original story from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY, USA). A new mass spectrometry technique sorts molecules to capture those of lower abundance. For scientists, a molecule’s weight can help determine its makeup. For measures like this, researchers turn to a technique called mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry measures molecular weight by injecting ions through a chamber and timing how long it takes each one to reach a sensor. Imagine throwing a tennis ball and a medicine ball at a wall. You can determine their weight based on how fast they accelerate and how long it takes them to reach the wall. “A mass spectrometer is essentially a very precise scale,” commented Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY, USA; CSHL) Research Associate Professor Paolo Cifani. “Imagine a bucket full of different molecules. Using mass spectrometry, you can figure out what molecules and how many are in that bucket. This enables researchers to try to answer questions like, ‘Are there different proteins, lipids, or other small molecules in one tumor versus another?’” Now, Cifani and his team at CSHL’s Mass Spectrometry facility have developed a new technique to push the performance of their instruments. Their innovation may improve drug target discovery while helping scientists answer long-standing questions about human health and biology. Harnessing mass spectrometry imaging to generate lipid maps A new microfluidic method preserves worm anatomy to link lipid signals with body structure using mass spectrometry imaging. When trying to identify molecules in complex mixtures, mass spectrometer sensitivity was thought to be determined almost exclusively…
