Abstract: Provided is a method for characterising an analyte by matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) mass spectrometry, which method comprises: (a) labelling the analyte with a light-absorbing label that absorbs light at a pre-determined frequency, to form a labelled analyte; (b) embedding the labelled analyte in a matrix formed from at least one compound that absorbs light, to form an embedded labelled analyte; (c) desorbing the embedded labelled analyte by exposing it to light having the pre-determined frequency, to form a desorbed analyte; and (d) detecting the desorbed analyte by mass spectrometry to characterise the analyte.

Abstract: Provided is a method for characterizing a polypeptide or a population of polypeptides, which method comprises: (a) contacting a sample comprising one or more polypeptides with a first cleavage agent to generate polypeptide fragments; (b) isolating one or more polypeptide fragments, each fragment comprising the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the polypeptide from which it was fragmented; (c) identifying the isolated fragments by mass spectrometry; (d) repeating steps (a)-(c) on the sample using a second cleavage agent that cleaves at a difference site from the first cleavage agent; and (e) characterizing the one or more polypeptides in the sample from the fragments identified in steps (c) and (d).

Abstract: A chimaeric oligonucleotide library for use in identifying an antisense binding site in a target mRNA, comprising a plurality of distinct chimaeric oligonucleotides capable of hybridizing to mRNA to form a duplex, the nucleotide sequences of which each have a common length of 7 to 20 bases and are generated randomly or generated from information characterizing the sequence of the target mRNA, wherein substantially all the nucleotide sequences of said common length which are present as sub-sequences in the target mRNA are present in the library, and wherein each nucleotide sequence comprises: a) a recognition region comprising a sequence of nucleotides which is recognizable by a duplex-cutting RNAase when hybridized to the mRNA, and b) a flanking region comprising a sequence of chemically-modified nucleotides which binds to the mRNA sufficiently tightly to stabilize the duplex for cutting of the mRNA in the duplex by the duplex-cutting RNAase, wherein the nucleotides constituting the flanking region are differ

Abstract: The present invention involves a method for characterizing nucleic acid which comprises generating Sanger ladder nucleic acid fragments from a plurality of nucleic acid templates present in the same reaction zone, wherein at least one terminating base is present in the reaction zone. Prior to generating nucleic acid fragments, a labeled primer nucleotide or oligonucleotide is hybridized to each template. The label on each primer is specific to the template to which that primer hybridizes, thereby allowing for identification of the template. The method of the present invention further comprises identifying the length of each nucleic acid fragment produced, the template from which the fragment is derived and the terminating base of the fragment.