Mass spectrometry instruments measure the mass to charge ratio of ions, from which we infer the molecular structures. They are key tools for investigating the incredibly diverse chemistry that is associated with biological systems. Typically, when one thinks about the chemistry of biology, one thinks of biochemical pathways, structural lipids or carbohydrates. However, numerous additional chemistries are part of various biological systems. These include molecules that originate from diet, water treatment, personal care, medications, pollutants and environmental exposures including plastics, clothes and furniture. These principles apply not only to people but to all of biology, from the worms at the bottom of the ocean, to the bacteria in our belly buttons and to the birds that fly over Mount Everest. In the past decade, our capacity to inventory the chemistry of biological systems using mass spectrometry at a global level has been revolutionized. In this Review, we discuss the informatics and hardware tools that are available for small-molecule analysis and provide an overview of the tools that could transform how we study the chemistry of biological systems; perhaps in the future this will be as easy as taking a photograph with a smartphone.

质谱仪测量离子的质荷比，从中我们推断出分子结构。它们是研究与生物系统相关的多种化学的关键工具。通常，当人们想到生物学化学时，就会想到生化途径，结构脂质或碳水化合物。但是，许多其他化学方法是各种生物系统的一部分。这些包括源自饮食，水处理，个人护理，药物，污染物和环境暴露的分子，包括塑料，衣服和家具。这些原则不仅适用于人类，而且适用于所有生物，从海洋底部的蠕虫到我们肚脐中的细菌，再到在珠穆朗玛峰上空飞行的鸟类。在过去的十年中，我们使用质谱技术在全球范围内盘点生物系统化学的能力已经发生了革命性的变化。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了可用于小分子分析的信息学和硬件工具，并概述了可以改变我们研究生物系统化学方法的工具。也许在将来，这将像使用智能手机拍照一样容易。