A laboratory worker loads samples onto a plate of a MALDI-TOF mass
spectrometer for analysis in the research development unit at
Manchester Metropolitan University, October 17, 2001. The machine,
which uses bespoke laser technology to take a fingerprint of unknown
bacteria, has the potential to search for and identify the presence of
anthrax spores in a sample faster than existing technology. REUTERS/Ian
Hodgson

IH