LGC selects £500k Bruker Daltonics Fourier transform instrument to expand its mass spectrometry capability for chemical and bio-molecules
LGC, the independent UK analytical laboratory providing chemical, biochemical and DNA analysis, has purchased a new Bruker Daltonics Apex III 47e Fourier transform mass spectrometer (FTMS).
This instrument, with its exceptionally high mass accuracy and resolution, will be used to characterise high molecular weight materials, especially biomolecules, and in the development of reference standards for chemistry and biology. John Marriott, LGC's director of analytical technology and government chemist said: "The analysis of biomolecules can be a complex matter given their size and the high molecular weights involved.
However, the new instrument and the collaboration with Bruker Daltonics will enable us to tackle this important and rapidly developing field.
We hope to go some way towards developing widely recognised reference standards which are not yet available." The instrument will also be used as part of a major collaborative project in mass spectrometry supported by the DTI National Measurement System, for which LGC is the leading contractor, in the field of chemistry and molecular biology.
LGC will also be collaborating with Bruker Daltonics in developing other applications for this instrument, ranging from the characterisation of synthetic polymers to protein analysis.
Mike Sargent, LGC's senior scientist and who leads its chemical metrology programmes, said: "Bruker Daltonics's readiness and ability to enter into a long-term collaborative arrangement with LGC was an important factor in our decision to purchase this instrument.
Extensive co-operation with the measurement supply chain is a key element of our role in the National Measurement System and the new DTI project has brought on board all the major UK instrument suppliers, academic groups, and pharma/chemical companies active in this field." Ian Sanders, general manager of Bruker Daltonics, commented: "We are delighted to have been chosen to supply the instrumentation for this prestigious project.
LGC's extraordinarily exacting standards of scientific work underline this decision as an important validation of our technology and also makes LGC a natural choice as a development partner.
Our collaboration with the chemical metrology team at LGC gives Bruker Daltonics a key role in the National Measurement System and the new DTI project." Installation of the new instrument began in May. Already operational, the Bruker Daltonics APEX III 47e FTMS joins the growing list of state-of-the-art, leading-edge technologies that are available from LGC.
