If protein specific labelling is applied, MDS allows membrane proteins to be sized. This is particularly useful as it is an area where other biophysical techniques can struggle - for example dynamic light scattering (DLS) is of limited use, since free detergent molecules may also scatter light and affect the results.
Furthermore, as the size reported is an average of all detectable species present there is no bias towards large species, as is found in DLS measurements.
Another key advantage is that results can be obtained with very small quantities of material which may be particularly important where samples are scarce or expensive.
With commercially available MDS instruments, testing is very simple and there is no need to input test parameters or sample conditions. This makes it a very repeatable method of testing as most of the functions such as flow rates, detector settings etc. are automated by the instrument rather than set by the operator.
In addition to size, MDS is able to calculate concentration so two parameters can be assessed in one test.
Finally the method does not require calibration, as it relies on a ratio-metric measurement to determine diffusion rate.