Mass spectrometry has evolved from a specialist technique, used initially almost exclusively for structure determination, to one where the bulk of applications now revolve around routine applications in analyte detection and quantification.In the beginning, samples of pure compounds were introduced into the ion source of the mass spectrometer (MS) deposited on a probe. Complex mixture analysis using probes was impractical, but could be performed by interfacing the MS with a gas chromatograph (GC). This was an early and highly successful development that enabled the analysis of compounds via first packed column, and then capillary GC-MS, but the technology was, obviously, limited to volatile compounds (or those that could be rendered volatile by derivatization). This requirement for thermally stable volatile analytes represented a clear limitation when the need was for the analysis of biological samples containing thermally labile, involatile analytes present in aqueous samples.From the point of view of those who struggled with the primitive, ineffective, and unreliable methods for interfacing MS with liquid chromatography (LC), such as the "moving belt" or direct liquid introduction methods, it sometimes seemed that the goal of producing a viable LC-MS system was going to be a step too far. However, this was before the development of the now dominant electrospray and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (ESI and APCI) methods. These ionization techniques completely transformed the prospects for the analysis of involatile analytes in aqueous solution, which could now be performed using either direct liquid introduction (DLI) MS or LC-MS.In parallel to the hyphenation of LC with MS developments in surface analysis, techniques such as matrixassisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) have produced tremendous opportunities for the direct analysis of samples deposited on a suitable support or for the high-resolution imaging of tissues.These advances in the ionization techniques available for MS combined with other developments in instrumentation, such as the introduction of triple-quadrupole, time-of-flight, and high-mass-resolution instruments (e.g., Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance [FTICR] and "orbitraps"), as well as ion mobility, have enabled a suite of MS-based solutions to address complex problems within biology. It is not hard to see why MS-based methods have become popular, because when carefully optimized, mass spectrometry offers highly sensitive qualitative and quantitative analysis and specific detection combined with speed. Indeed, such has been the success of MS-based methodology that it is now difficult to envisage how modern bioscience, and particularly drug discovery and development, could be so efficiently conducted in its absence.Continual improvements in both the speed and sensitivity of MS-based techniques are facilitating an ever-increasing number of applications for high-throughput screening, and this is reflected in the content of thi...