The company has introduced the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Isora MS and Orbitrap Isora Pro MS, its first Orbitrap instruments with a dedicated isotope ratio analysis mode. The systems are paired with the Vanquish Duo UHPLC System and new Isotope Discoverer Software in an integrated workflow aimed at cutting a traditionally complex analysis process from days to hours.

 

The technology could open new avenues for research in environmental science, geoscience, bioscience, metabolism, archaeology and food authenticity.

 

"Isotope ratio analysis can answer questions few other techniques can address,” said Dieter Hofmann, vice president and general manager of Applied Analytical Technologies at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “By bringing these capabilities to a familiar Orbitrap platform and simplifying what has traditionally been a highly specialized workflow, we can put powerful isotope insights in the hands of more scientists and help accelerate discoveries across human health, the environment and our planet.”

 

Isotope ratio analysis examines natural variations in isotopes to determine where a compound originated and what processes shaped it. The information can help scientists trace pollutants, reconstruct Earth's geological and environmental history, study metabolism and verify the authenticity of food and other products.

 

Traditional isotope ratio mass spectrometry generally requires samples to be converted into a simple gas before analysis. Thermo Fisher's Orbitrap Isora workflow instead analyzes intact molecular ions, preserving their structural context.

 

That means researchers can measure multiple isotopologues in a single run and potentially obtain more detailed information about a molecule's origin and history.

 

The workflow also aims to eliminate much of the manual processing traditionally associated with isotope analysis. The Orbitrap instruments perform high-resolution accurate-mass detection, the Vanquish Duo automates sample and reference-material introduction, and Isotope Discoverer Software extracts isotope ratios, applies corrections and produces results in a single environment.

 

The Orbitrap Isora MS offers up to 240,000 resolution at m/z 200, while the Orbitrap Isora Pro MS reaches up to 480,000 resolution at m/z 200.

 

“The Orbitrap Isora MS enables new workflows that are very exciting, providing expanding ways to examine everything from human, animal and plant health to the biochemical history of molecule formation,” said Douglas Morrison, Professor of Isotope Bioscience at SUERC - Centre for the Isotope Sciences, University of Glasgow. 

 

“By opening new avenues of scientific discovery, the Orbitrap Isora MS could help researchers address fundamental challenges shaping a sustainable future on Planet Earth.”

 

Thermo Fisher says the new workflow could help researchers tackle questions across several fields.

 

In environmental research, molecular-level isotope measurements could help trace contaminants such as PFAS back to their sources and track their movement through watersheds, soil and food supplies.

 

In geology, climatology and archaeology, isotope signatures can provide clues about past oxygen levels, microbial activity and other conditions preserved in the geological record.

 

In bioscience and metabolism, the technology could help scientists follow how nutrients and metabolites are transformed in the body, potentially supporting research into nutrition, metabolic disease and drug development.

 

And in food and beverage authenticity, isotope analysis can help distinguish synthetic ingredients from natural ones and identify products that do not match their labels.

 

Thermo Fisher describes Orbitrap-based isotope ratio mass spectrometry as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, classical IRMS. The key distinction is that classical IRMS converts samples into gases, while the Orbitrap approach analyzes intact molecules and retains molecular information.

 

By moving isotope ratio analysis onto a widely used Orbitrap platform and integrating sample handling and data processing, Thermo Fisher is betting that more laboratories will be able to use isotope signatures to answer a deceptively simple question: not just what is in a sample, but where it came from and what happened to it along the way.