ABSTRACT
Mass spectrometry can be applied to an incredible diversity of structural problems in the biological sciences, ranging from the quantitation of organic molecules by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to the molecular weight profiling of intact proteins by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFIMS). A cursory perusal of the chapters in this book makes it clear that most of the work in the development of robust mass spectrometric methods for biochemistry applications has occurred in the past 15 years. In the early 1980s the drug discovery process relied on mass spectrometry principally for the characterization of small organic molecules and their metabolites. After moving through a period in which fast atom bombardment allowed us to see the tremendous benefits of a straightforward method for mass analysis of biopolymers, we have arrived at a state of affairs in drug discovery in which we rarely use electron impact or chemical ionization, or the expensive, high-resolution sector instruments that were formerly the workhorses of mass spectrometry.
