Sample Preparation Survey: What You Told Us About
Proteomics workflows are under increasing pressure.
As studies grow in size and complexity, sample preparation has become one of the key bottlenecks – impacting reproducibility, throughput, and scalability. To better understand how teams are navigating this, we asked the proteomics community across academia, pharma, clinical labs, and technology providers.
The results point to a field that is progressing – but still facing clear challenges.
How are Proteomics Samples Prepared Today?
Despite advances in automation, most labs still rely heavily on manual and in-house workflows.
Manual protocols and internally developed methods remain the most commonly used approaches, often combined with some level of automation. This reflects a hybrid reality: workflows are functional, but not fully optimized for scale.
This mix of approaches highlights a key challenge – many teams are balancing flexibility with the need for more standardized and scalable solutions.
Where Workflows Break Down
When looking at day-to-day challenges, the same themes appear consistently: reproducibility, scalability, and manual labor.
These challenges are closely linked. Increasing throughput is not just about speed – it’s about processing more samples without introducing variability or increasing hands-on time.
The data makes it clear that improving reproducibility while scaling workflows remains one of the biggest unmet needs in proteomics.
Strong Interest in Automation – But It Has to Fit
Given these challenges, it is not surprising that interest in automation is high.
Most respondents are open to automation-ready solutions, but a significant portion remain cautious. This reflects a practical concern: automation must integrate with existing LC–MS systems and work across diverse sample types.
Automation is not just about replacing manual steps—it needs to improve existing workflows without adding complexity.
Standardization Is Becoming Essential
One of the clearest signals from the survey is the importance of standardization.
The vast majority of respondents consider it critical or important, highlighting its role in improving reproducibility, data quality, and enabling workflows to be shared across labs.
As proteomics moves toward larger studies and clinical applications, standardization is becoming a foundational requirement.
Moving Forward with our Open Innovation Initiative
Taken together, the survey highlights an important shift.
Sample preparation is no longer just a technical step, it is central to making proteomics scalable and reproducible. Teams are looking for solutions that reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and integrate seamlessly into existing workflows.
Through our open innovation initiatives, Evosep continues to work closely with the community to better understand these needs and help translate them into practical solutions.
We look forward to share more with the community at ASMS 2026.
Learn more about our Open Innovation Initiative at https://www.evosep.com/every-proteome-tells-a-story/
