ANALYSIS OF BIOMOLECULES USING ELECTROSPRAY AND NANOPARTICLE METHODS - THE GAS-PHASE ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY MOLECULAR ANALYZER (GEMMA)

Aerosol particle detection and sizing techniques have recently been ex tended downwards to a size range commensurate with the size of many im portant biomolecules. Although such large molecules do not naturally o ccur individually as aerosol particles, electrospray-drying makes it F easible to generate an aerosol of isolated single macromolecules from macromolecule solutions. The combination of this electrospray generati on with the improved aerosol techniques makes possible a new method of size analysis for biomolecules. We present characteristics of this ne w system and review some recent results. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.