Mass Spectrometry IDs Fake Fur

It isn’t clear what test was performed, but this story about fake fur has been the biggest mass spectrometry item of the past week. One possibility is MALDI MS of keratin, as described in Identification and Quantification of Feathers, Down, and Hair of Avian and Mammalian Origin Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry by Klaus Hollemeyer, Wolfgang Altmeyer, and Elmar Heinzle, Anal. Chem.; 2002; 74 5960 (ht to Steve Down)