Protea Offers New Bioanalytical Services

Protea Biosciences began offering bioanalytical services employing LAESI imaging mass spectrometry, a new technology for rapid and comprehensive identification of biomolecules in tissues and biofluids.

LAESI-MS (Laser Ablation ElectroSpray Ionization Mass Spectrometry), enables the massively parallel identification of biomolecules found in tissues and biofluids, including metabolites, lipids, peptides, and proteins. The first LAESI-MS services will provide two- and three- dimensional imaging of biomolecules found in human, animal and plant biological samples. Also, custom bioinformatics tools assist in the analysis of the very large datasets that are generated.

“We are pleased to make this important new bioanalytical technology available to the research community,” said Steve Turner, Protea’s chief executive officer. “The culmination of years of R&D, LAESI allows the generation of mass spec data without the destruction of the biological sample, thereby allowing the mass spec data to be shown localized in the sample — in the context of its biology.”