A new mass spectrometry facility in NUI Galway provides a vital link between research and industry with the aim of discovering, developing and manufacturing new drugs It's running in an almost industrial environment . . . like a development lab in a drug company

FINDING A needle in a haystack is never easy, but having a magnet helps. In the same way, improved technologies are helping scientists find ever-finer details about biological systems, with the ultimate aim of developing new pharmaceutical therapies.

Now a new facility, launched at NUI Galway last Thursday, allows researchers to use high-end mass spectrometry to zone in even further on chemicals in biological systems that could point the way towards new drugs.

"Mass spectrometry is one of the main research tools in biological research," says Dr Niclas Karlsson, a senior scientist at the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences in Galway. When Karlsson moved to Ireland from Australia in 2006, there was one "low-end" mass spectrometer at NUIG, but the tally is now four, including some of the latest technology that allows scientists to break the "femtogram" barrier of sensitivity and identify chemicals in samples that could previously have been missed.

For Karlsson, it boosts his research on the process of glycosylation - how sugars are added to proteins in the cell. Those sugars can alter the properties of a protein-based drug, and he looks at the process in cell lines. "We use the mass spec to deduce the glycosylation that's happening within the cell and the [ new equipment] means we are better equipped to look at that."

Karlsson can also use the technology to look at glycosylation in gut bacteria, while other NUIG scientists are looking at gene expression and the chemicals that affect pain and anxiety.

But it's not just about the researchers. The mass spectrometry facility at NUIG is in partnership with manufacturer Agilent, which hopes to test out its latest technology there before releasing it to the general market.

"We really needed a partner lab in Ireland for Agilent in terms of mass spectrometry," says Padraig McDonnell, country general manager for Ireland. "We found that when we were doing application notes or needed to develop applications for customers, we were working with our in-house facilities around Europe and the demand for this kind of work became too strong. So we needed somehow to make a close link with a lab in Ireland."

Galway was ready to provide that link. "They wanted to build up their mass spec facility. . . This is to catch up and go past many universities with the technology that they have."

But Agilent wanted to do more than provide the machinery. "Rather than just putting the systems in and walking away, we asked: 'What can we do to get benefits together from this?'

"They bought the system, but they get a lot of our time," he explains. "A lot of our experts from the US and European specialists will visit the site there to help them get the most out of the new technology."

And while NUIG academics are kept up to speed, the data they produce is like gold dust to Agilent. Not only do they get customer samples for seminars and a site to beta-test new systems, they also get their name on all-important posters and papers.

"The real win for us is that we get a lot of publications using our equipment. That's so important, because really what people look at in the scientific world is scientific posters - that's what we hope to develop," says McDonnell.

The academics also benefit from industry-friendly technology, he notes. "It's very important for [ the researchers] that it's running in an almost industrial environment. They have to have robust data - they're almost running it like a development lab in a drug company."

But with research that's headed for commercialisation, intellectual property can be a potential tripwire for industry collaborations. "That's when the rubber meets the road," says McDonnell. "You are going to get a situation where you have this collaboration and everybody has the best intention, then some lawyer decides there's an IP issue. That can jettison it, so early involvement with tech-transfer offices and the principal investigator is important."

And he insists there's no scope for abuse on either side of the industry-academic partnership. "We see it very much as 50/50; there's never a case where we're the major partner," he says. "You need to have a strong relationship to get the work done on both sides and it's very much that kind of a relationship."