Liquid chromatography. Researcher extracting a liquid sample from a vial. The liquid will be placed in the machine in the background to analyse it and discover the exact composition of the sample. The machine uses the technique of liquid chromatography to separate components of a mixture. Specifically, it is a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system, using column chromatography to separate or purify proteins from complex mixtures. This FPLC system is from Pharmacia Biotech, and uses an LCC-500 Plus liquid chromatography controller. Pharmacia Biotech merged with Amersham (now part of GE Healthcare) in 1997. Photographed in a laboratory in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of research into brain synapses.