Mass spec goes massive weighing huge virus particles
Nanomechanical system can weigh protein complexes and viruses more than 100MDa in mass
A nanomechanical mass spectrometer has weighed a massive 105MDa DNA-filled viral particle. The system detects single molecules at a mass range missing from the suite of common mass spectrometric techniques. A team led by Christophe Masselon and Sébastien Hentz, at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, wanted to create a system to weigh the missing mass range: MDa to GDa particles, the size of many viruses, large protein complexes and disease biomarkers.