This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at South Dakota State will acquire an ultra high performance liquid-chromatography tandem mass-spectrometer for advanced analysis of small molecules and large bio-molecules. This will support ongoing and proposed interdisciplinary research projects in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy, biology and microbiology, as well as other research projects from several other departments on campus. It will be used in a broad range of research projects including, analysis of perchlorate from Greenland ice cores to determine natural and anthropogenic sources of perchlorate in the environment; identification of proteins in complex mixtures, including investigations of protein-protein interactions; identification of biomarkers of important diseases, and determination of proteins of key importance to specific biological phenomena. Other projects include analysis of chemical warfare agent exposure, bioengineering of bacteria, and investigation of differences in chemical exposure related to cultural and lifestyle practices. It will be used in a water analysis outreach project that connects all levels of education (K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and faculty) with the help of cyber-enabled technology. This acquisition will also provide support to a number of state-wide collaborations and research centers.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is used to identify the chemical composition of a sample and determine its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. Chromatography is an isolation technique that precedes the mass spectrometry analysis. It separates a mixture into its several constituent chemicals which are then analyzed by the mass spectrometer. These are widely used analytical techniques to identify and quantify the chemical composition of a sample. It is important for students to be trained in the technique using modern instrumentation. These instruments will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.
