We asked industry leaders: What’s one emerging trend or shift in the analytical sciences space that you think could significantly reshape the industry over the next 3–5 years?
Miniaturization & Sustainability
“One of the biggest emerging trends is how we continue to make instrumentation smaller and more sustainable—without sacrificing high performance data. Lab space is getting squeezed. Customers need to fit more capability into smaller footprints, so compact, stackable high-resolution systems are the future.”
Shane Tichy, Associate Vice President of R&D, Liquid Phase Division, Life Sciences & Diagnostics Division, Agilent
Throughput and Simplicity
“In routine testing, people want faster and easier workflows. Mass spectrometry has long been seen as complex, time-consuming, and costly. That’s why many labs still rely on immunoassays, even with their limitations. The demand now is for mass spectrometry methods that deliver higher throughput and ease of use. Clinical, food, and environmental labs all need solutions that simplify mass spectrometry without sacrificing performance.”
Arnd Ingendoh, Vice President, Business Development, Bruker Applied MS and Co-Managing Director, RECIPE
Speed & Robustness
Data throughput and sample throughput are becoming critical for scientists. Technology is moving from hundreds of hertz to thousands of hertz acquisition speeds—samples can be analyzed much faster than ever before. The demand for speed will only accelerate in the years ahead. Another major shift is making instruments more robust to sample contamination. The goal is clear: minimize downtime and maximize productivity.”
Jim Langridge, Senior Director and Xevo MRT Program Owner, LC-MS Business Segment, Waters Corporation
Large Molecules & Proteomics
“Large biologics are a major growth area, and the push toward top-down proteomics is back on the rise. With top-down proteomics, you avoid digestion, keep the protein intact, and accelerate identification. That’s where the field wants to go. The challenge now is developing instrumentation at a reasonable cost that can handle native state proteins and top-down workflows.”
Shane Tichy, Associate Vice President of R&D, Liquid Phase Division, Life Sciences & Diagnostics Division, Agilent
Shift to Functional Proteomics
“The next era is functional proteomics, where we can measure proteoforms rather than just protein groups. Being able to identify pathological proteoforms could transform the field within the next five years.”
Rohan Thakur, President of Bruker Daltonics