Mass spectrometers are used for a wide array of analyses from food safety to forensics. Use this guide to help you start the process of choosing the right instrument for your lab.

Dietary-supplement labels don’t always disclose every ingredient.

At the end of April, Agilent Technologies launched its 6545 Q-TOF mass spectrometry system, designed to provide added sensitivity for routine analyses.

Many factors in materials impact foods and beverages. These range from safety issues, such as microbiological contamination, to texture issues, such as the smoothness of peanut butter.

Serge Cremers, Pharm. D., PhD, is an associate professor at Columbia University Medical Center and an attending clinical chemist at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is the director of the Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center and the director of the Biomarkers Core Laboratory of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, which is home to Columbia University’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) and the largest mass spectrometry facility at Columbia University, focusing on targeted metabolomics and the measurement of drugs. Dr Cremers’ areas of expertise are bio-analytical chemistry, translational and clinical pharmacology, therapeutic drug monitoring, as well as clinical chemistry of metabolic bone diseases. He conducts research in all of these areas and has published over 90 papers. 

Most drug discovery efforts begin with a biological target—the molecule inside the body whose activity the drug is expected to enhance or diminish. Assurance that the target is pharmacologically accessible and responsible in some way for the disease in question is based on target validation studies.

The United States government—nearly 14 years after September 11, 2001— continues to invest heavily in homeland security. In fact, the president’s 2015 budget calls for US$38.2 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, and that equals more than 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Michael Rummel has held the position of chief operating officer at InSource Diagnostics, an independent laboratory that focuses on medication monitoring and compliance testing, for several years. Since graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005, Michael has pursued a career working in the analytical and clinical sciences. He has expertise in analytical chemistry assay development specifically with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, assay optimization, and sample preparation optimization and development.

Within the past few years, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have created new disciplines within biology while inspiring the creation of techniques and methods that take life science analytics to new levels of sensitivity, specificity and understanding.

First-of-its-kind system looks to increase speed and efficiency while reducing human error in analysis workflows

New research centers on an emerging field called metallomics, the study of the impact of metals on biological systems

Douglas Kiehl is a principal research scientist at Eli Lilly & Company, and is currently leader for the Spectroscopy & Raw Materials team. His group performs characterization and structural elucidation of impurities, related substances, and contaminants as well as testing and qualification of process raw materials through development and commercialization. Additionally, his team leads Lilly’s technical strategy for evaluating extractables and leachables associated with pharmaceutically relevant materials.