Ripples of excitement are reportedly spreading through the research community at the University of York after a high throughput tandem mass spectrometer was purchased
The first Applied Biosystems 4700 Proteomics Analyser to be installed in an academic laboratory in the UK is already proving to be very popular with the researchers.
Jerry Thomas, manager of the Analytical Biochemistry Laboratory at the University of York, explained: "The technology facility was created so that our researchers could use technologies they might not ordinarily have within their own laboratories or departments.
It is the research laboratories we serve who determine what is bought and one of their biggest needs is the ability to do proteomics.
When the 4700 Proteomics Analyser was tested by some of our biologists there was no question that this was the instrument they wanted. The biggest factors in our decision were its high throughput and the quality of data it produces.
So far it has met our expectations and the researchers are getting the results that they anticipated.
There has been a lot of interest from other academic groups, both here and at other universities, as well as from outside companies.
There is a bit of a 'wow' factor about it and that's not because it is a new toy but because it delivers results quickly and easily.
It's also extremely user friendly - I let students run the instrument and I wouldn't do that if I didn't think that it was pretty foolproof.
