As reported by lastampa.it website, the University of Turin has a new high-performance instrument that will be used by the researchers of the Department of Biotechnology in Via Nizza: mass spectrometry. This instrument has been bought thanks to the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation in the context of the Open Access Lab.

The researchers of the University of Turin explain that: “Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique used for the quantitative measurement of known chemical compounds and for the detection of unknown compounds. In fact, it tells you how much molecules “weigh” and it has high diagnostic properties which are useful to make the chemical and structural properties of the molecules clear. One of the strong points of mass spectrometry is high sensitivity, thanks to which we can carry out analysis of very small quantities of the substances (we arrive up to the femtogram, which corresponds to a fraction trillion times smaller than a gram). Spectrometers allow the analysis of infinitesimally small concentrations, billionths of grams per solution, also with complex mixtures such as blood”.

The use of spectrometers in the pharmaceutical field is also very important: in fact, mass spectrometry is used to study the effects of drugs in the body. The total amount of the investment has been 750,000 euros.