Access

Research Highlights

Nature Biotechnology 27, 734 (1 August 2009) | doi:10.1038/nbt0809-734

Research highlights

Laura De Francesco , Markus Elsner , Peter Hare & Craig Mak

Single-molecule mass spectrometry? Mass spectrometry (MS) measures the mass-to-charge ratio of sample molecules in a three-step process (analyte ionization, separation and detection) that limits sensitivity and restricts analysis to molecules that can be efficiently ionized. Naik et al. present an MS technology capable of measuring the mass of sample molecules during the detection step with single-molecule sensitivity, which ultimately could remove the necessity for ionization.