Timothy Cleland, MCI Physical Scientist, and Elena Schroeter, Arnold O Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at NC State University, have published a review on the application of mass spectrometry to paleoproteomics — the study of sequences, modifications, and changes post-mortem and post-burial of proteins in historical and fossil bones and tissues—  in the Journal of Proteome Research. In this paper, the authors describe the history and application of biological mass spectrometry to archeological and paleontological proteins. They also discuss types of mass spectrometry that have been or could be applied and the effects of post-mortem and post-burial change (diagenesis) on interpretation of results from each type of mass spectrometry. The authors conclude that mass spectrometry technology has come a long way in regard to sensitivity, speed, and functionality since the first paleoproteomic studies of fossils, and researchers should follow current trends in mass spectrometry technology to investigate their questions about ancient life.

Flowchart depicting the basic workflow of different mass spectrometry techniques, and the different data produced by each. Tissue sections and spectral maps shown for TOF-SIMS and MALDI-IMS were adapted from Hness et al. (CC BY 2.0), (79) and Powers et al. (CC BY 4.0), (80) respectively.