They found a protein INSIDE A METEORITE! Space proteins!

I would like to interrupt your explaining CoronaVirus to your second cousin (once removed) who called you this afternoon to have an inappropriate rant about something awesome!


Here is the preprint! 

Okay -- they used a MALDI-TOF -- don't ask me, astronomy people are weird. Proof -- look at the specs on the mass specs on the Mars Rovers. They represent a....unique ...perspective on mass spectrometry. Like...maybe we peaked in the 1970s?

Wait -- back to the meteor. I think they didn't know they had a protein so they were using the MALDI to ionize it. They mess around with a bunch of different matrices. Seriously -- look at that resolution.

Man....it brings back the memories of all the nights I worked late in grad school because mass spectrometers were garbage back then.

Please -- notice to anyone in the world. If you happen to find, I dunno,
a PROTEIN FROM
OUTER
FUCKING
SPACE
AND YOU DON'T KNOW ANYONE WITH A GOOD MASS SPEC
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE EMAIL ME. (There are a number of other obvious examples, I hope.)

I will bug every mass spectrometrist on earth till we find you something awesome you can use. I will bum favors. I will sell my house. I will break and enter.
A surprising number of people just give me keys to their labs, so I probably won't have to do any of that. I'll help you get...I dunno...data with decimal points on the masses? With a resolution greater than 400?

How do we know it's from outer space?

The isotopes are all messed up!! They aren't earth isotope distributions! (Yes, you can see it with this thing).

Okay -- so think about this -- a protein that has been moved through space and has had to deal with whatever reasons we need space suits is probably going to be pretty weird.

Its just strands of glycine. About 1/5 are oxidized and it's got an iron stuck to both termini. Still cool.

Wait. They acknowledge Bruker for use of an instrument.

BRUKER HAS REAL INSTRUMENTS! Why did they use whatever this thing is?

OMG. Cornell has great instruments. I've helped develop apps on at least 3 up there over the years. What is happening?

Oh. I get it. These people thought they had a space protein and some guy in a suit at Bruker was like

and told one of the demo chemists to humor them and fire up the thing they use as a coat rack -- and -- wanna guess what the regret level is? Over 10,000? That they didn't load this up on a -- 2 MILLION RESOLUTION FTICR or something?

Okay -- this is still super amazingly cool, man, I'm such a resolution snob, but I'd love to be able to see this protein a little/lot better!


SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE PROOOOOTEEEEEEEEEEEIIIN!!!!