How It Works

Collision-activated dissociation (CAD), the most widely used peptide ion fragmentation technique for peptide sequence analysis by tandem mass spectrometry, works great for small peptides but is problematic for labile posttranslational modifications (PTMs). In the last decade, researchers have developed an alternative, electron capture dissociation (ECD), which involves reacting multiply-p

Related Articles Going Live Tips for choosing a microscope setup Pooling resources Prioritizing speed Mix and match Deep down view Sticking to the surface Two-photon microscopy offers two advantages over other live cell imaging techniques: It penetrates up to 1 mm into tissue and it minimizes phototoxicity because the beam excites just a single focal point at a time. In order to excite a fluorophore labeling the tissue, two long-wavelength, low-energy photons must meet nearly simultan

http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/24912/1.html Click here to view diagram _blank Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN" />http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/24912/1.html Click here to view diagram _blank Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN Related Articles A Master Regulator in the Brain Meeting of the Minds Singing in the Bird Brain Patch Clamping Unhooked Ten Steps to Better Patch Clamping Paul Greengard and Per Svenningson discuss DARPP-

http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/24575/1.html Click to view enlarged diagram _blank Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN" />http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/24575/1.html Click to view enlarged diagram _blank Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN Sporting greater mass accuracy than other mass spectrometers, Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry instruments have the ability to resolve and sequence intact

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/flash/24106/1/ Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN" />http://www.the-scientist.com/article/flash/24106/1/ Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN There are a number of ways to multiplex, but one of the most common relies on solution-based arrays of microscopic beads measuring several microns in diameter.Like planar microarrays, these arrays are addressable - that is,

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/flash/23821/1/ Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN" />http://www.the-scientist.com/article/flash/23821/1/ Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN Invented in 1986 atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become a valuable tool for life scientists, offering the ability to image aqueous biological samples, like membranes, at nanometer resolution. The technique is akin to

/article/flash/23556/1/Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: MICHAEL DAVIDSON" />/article/flash/23556/1/Click to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: MICHAEL DAVIDSONStick a soda straw into a glass of water, and from the side, the straw will appear to bend at the interface between air and water. That effect is caused by the different refractive indexes of the air and water, which causes the li

insert urlClick to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN" />insert urlClick to view enlarged diagram Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN The two chips illustrated below represent the next generation of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their manufacturers - Agilent Technologies and Nanostream - have miniaturized and simplified the traditionally reagent-intensive process with microfluidics in order to boost sensitivity and thro

Credit: COURTESY OF MARISA DOLLED-FILHAST, HISTO Rx" /> Credit: COURTESY OF MARISA DOLLED-FILHAST, HISTO Rx Traditional histopathology analysis has two basic problems. First, it isn't granular enough: Pathologists typically grade overall marker-staining intensity using a four-point scale. The other problem is that these measurements don't account for the sometimes-subtle changes in subcellular localization that can indicate disease. Beta-catenin, for instance, is a biomarker for colon can

Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN/ACKNOWLEDGMENT: CLAUS LARSEN, BMG LABTECH" /> Credit: ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW MEEHAN/ACKNOWLEDGMENT: CLAUS LARSEN, BMG LABTECH View enlarged diagramThe days of single-mode microplate readers are over; multimode readers have taken over the lab. One such instrument, BMG Labtech's PHERAstar (shown here), can acquire fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, time-resolved fluorescence, luminescence, absorbance, and PerkinElmer AlphaSc

For most researchers DNA microarrays are synonymous with high-throughput gene expression analysis. But they also are invaluable genotyping tools. Now that the International HapMap Project (see article, p.68) is complete companies are putting ?these tools into researchers hands, including the HumanHap300 BeadChip from San Diego-based Illumina, whose construction is illustrated here.Unlike other microarray platforms, in which specific oligonucleotide probes are either synthesized

Invented a half-century ago by Nobel laureate Wolfgang Paul, the quadrupole mass filter has become an integral part of some of the most sophisticated mass spectrometers. Consisting of four parallel metal rods on which a fixed direct-current voltage and alternating radio-frequency voltage are applied, quadrupole mass filters allow users to selectively filter all ions except for those of a specified mass to charge ratio (m/z), depen

The ultimate realization of the yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay is the interactome.

It's been 20 years since Hillenkamp and Karas developed MALDI.

With their tiny reaction volumes and parallel architecture, lab-on-a-chip systems promise to lower the cost and raise the quality of life science research.

Unlike the other technologies highlighted in this issue, optical trapping systems are not typically purchased off-the-shelf.

Sequencers have come a long way since 1986.

It's common knowledge that BLAST's Web interface puts the power of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on users' desktops.

Microarrays are nothing without their scanners, the instruments that extract the array's data in computer-readable form.

has upped the ante in microfluidics-based gel electrophoresis.