Carnegie Mellon Prof Gets Grant for Mass Spec Development

Mark Bier, an associate professor and the director for the Center for Molecular Analysis of the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Chemistry, has earned a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a heavy-ion mass spectrometer.

The instrument is being designed to overcome the hurdles that present technology faces in analyzing the composition of large complex molecules and will be able characterize large biomolecules (such as proteins, viruses, DNA) with masses over 150 kiloDaltons, according to a statement by the university.

No telling how long it will take this project to reach prototype stage, or even commercialization. But Bier has a track record in the field of mass spectrometry instrumentation, an increasingly critical tool in the field of proteomics and other applications where exacting molecular measurements and analysis are necessary. Bier was a co-inventor of the ion trap while working at Thermo Electron Corporation.