Photograph by Paul Myers
Felisa Dagsa assembles mass spectrometers at Thermo Finnigan in San Jose.
Mass Scientist
Mike Story helped develop technology that's used to test Olympic athletes
By Gloria I. Wang
Answer: A device that performs a chemical analysis of mixtures; was instrumental in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where it was used to test illegal substances in athletes' bloodstream.
Question: What is the mass spectrometer?
The history of the mass spectrometer, which plays a variety of roles in the chemistry, biotechnology and environmental industries, has many important figures, one of whom is a longtime Los Gatos resident. Mike Story, 64, recently retired from his job as vice president of engineering research at an influential mass spectrometry company.
More than 30 years ago, Story helped develop technology that made the mass spectrometer more user-friendly, and contributed to its widespread uses.
Dating back to the early 1900s, mass spectrometers were initially only used in universities. The device was commercialized in the 1940s and became more popular for non-research uses as time passed.
Coupled with a gas chromatograph, which separates the different compounds in a mixture, the devices analyze mixtures such as pollutants found in ground water and substances in bodily fluids. In recent years, mass spectrometers have been used for the study of proteins--called proteomics--by cancer and other pharmaceutical researchers.
Mass spectrometers "allow more ... researchers to catalog proteins like genomics researchers catalog genes," according to the February issue of the journal Science.
Until the 1960s, however, the mass spectrometers were so large and made so much noise that they had to be stored in basements or other soundproofed rooms. But in the 1967, Mike Story, Bob Finnigan and Bill Fies, founded the Finnigan Instruments Company and perfected the design of the mass spectrometer.
Story says that their quadrupole (four-pole) development of the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer shrank the system in both price and size. In 1967, most gas chromatography-mass spectrometry systems were selling for $100,000-200,000; Finnigan Instruments' device sold for up to $50,000. In addition, many systems these days are tabletop-size. "We wanted to take mass spectrometers out of the mass spectrometry lab and put them on a chemist's bench," Story said.
Photograph courtesy of Mike and Lucille Story
Mike Story (right) poses with Finnigan Instruments co-founder Bob Finnigan and Finnigan's wife, Betty, on July 27.
Whereas older models of the system used magnets, the quadrupole system did not. The benefit was that separating and analyzing mixtures took merely seconds, where before the process took minutes. Also, the structure of the quadrupole system allowed for the data to be easily computerized, a plus in today's digital society.
According to Ian Jardine, president of the company, now called Thermo Finnigan, a "sexy application" of the system is drug testing for the Olympics. Not only were they used in Sydney, but Jardine says that at a recent trip to China, he met with authorities in a Beijing chemical lab about having the systems at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Jardine says that some other uses for the system include university research and the geological dating of rocks. "You name it, there's usually mass spectrometry not too far away," Jardine said.
Story adds that the mass spectrometer is used in court cases in which drug use is involved.
In addition to helping found Finnigan Instruments, Story is a charter member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. The 4,000-member society, in its 50th year, meets annually. "It's five days of nerds from 8 in the morning to 10 at night," Story said.
Story is also prolific in the international world of science. On Sept. 1, he traveled to Morocco, where he delivered a lecture at the NATO Conference called "New Frontiers in Mass Spectrometry."
In the 1960s, Story worked with Bob Finnigan at Electronics Associates, Inc., an analog computer company in the Bay Area. The two often interacted with scientists at the Stanford Research Institute, and one day saw the quadrupole gas chromatograph there. Story and Finnigan then developed a version of the chromatograph that would be compatible with the mass spectrometer--something that no one had thought of doing before, Story said. They left the company, recruited Bill Fies from Stanford and thus was the birth of Finnigan Instruments, originally located in Sunnyvale. The company was acquired by Thermo Electron in 1990 and then renamed Thermo Finnigan; the offices are now in San Jose.
A quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer operates in the lab at Thermo Finnigan in San Jose.
Photograph by Paul Myers
The company that Story helped start is now worth more than $300 million, Jardine says, and is one of the "world leaders" in mass spectrometry, catering to about 20 percent of the market internationally.
"It's the oldest surviving mass spectrometry company in the U.S.," Jardine said. "They recognized the power of this technology," Jardine said, referring to the founders of the company
In his 34 years with the company, Story lived in Germany for one year and Japan for two to establish branches overseas and help develop mass spectrometers in those countries. Living in Japan, Story developed an appreciation for Japanese architecture and art. He playfully calls himself a "Japanophile"--remodeling his house with natural textures and skylights resembling rice-paper windows.
Although he loved his job, Story says that he was looking forward to retiring in June, the last of the company's founders to do so. "When you start out in work, work always comes first and family second," Story said. "One day you decide, 'That's enough.' "
Story and his wife, Lucille, have two small grandchildren; his desire to spend time with them spurred his thoughts of retiring. "I started going to work late and leaving meetings early and the place was still there," Story said of the company.
Story was born in Sacramento and grew up in Los Angeles, though his family never settled anywhere because his stepfather was in the Navy. "I went to about 20 schools growing up," Story said, "some of them twice." As a student at Point Loma High School in San Diego, his passion for science was encouraged by a "great chemistry teacher."
After graduation, Story attended UC Berkeley, working 20 to 40 hours a week in the midst of taking classes. In 1957, as a senior at Berkeley, Story spotted an attractive girl in music class. His chemistry fraternity--"I guess I hung out with nerdy guys even then," Story said--held open houses with girls' living groups because "we couldn't meet girls on our own." It was at one of those open houses that Story met the girl from music class, freshman Lucille "Lu" Planck. The two started "going together" two years later and were married in 1960. Story received his degree in chemistry before their marriage; Lucille, her degree in dietetics (nutrition) after.
Between 1961 and 1966, the couple had three sons and the family lived in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale for several years. Finally, in 1973, the Storys purchased a home off Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, and have lived there ever since.
Photograph by Paul Myers
Mike Story shows the quadrupole technology of the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, which he helped develop more than 30 years ago.
All three sons--Lee, David and Kevin--attended schools in Saratoga and graduated from Saratoga High School. While her children were growing up, Lucille Story was an active volunteer for their schools, serving as president of the Saratoga High School PTA twice and joining the California State PTA Board of Directors.
The family moved to Germany together but when Story worked in Japan, Lucille and their sons came back to Los Gatos so they could go to local schools. "She's really tolerant of my being gone a lot," Story said of his wife "She rules."
In 1987, Story hired Jardine, a professor at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. "One of the prime reasons I joined the company was because I thought Mike was an exceptional scientist," said Jardine, himself a Los Gatos resident. "I figured that a company that had somebody like this working for them was a good company to work for."
Jardine calls Story someone who is "completely and utterly straightforward and honest," who possesses "intellectual honestly."
"I don't mean to be too grandiose," Jardine said.
Story's retirement at the end of June was followed by a retirement party July 27 at A.P. Stump's in San Jose. To his surprise, Jardine had flown in colleagues and friends from all over the United States and the world. A couple from Germany attended the party, as well as colleagues from Florida and Virginia. Story's son Lee brought his family from Denver.
"It just blew my mind, that Ian did this," Story said. Jardine paid for travel and accommodations for those out-of-towners. Story calls that night one of the most memorable of his career.
"I really wanted to make sure that ... we could have a recognition of the last 35 years or so of this company," Jardine said. "It was absolutely for Mike and also to synthesize our heritage."
Photograph by Paul Myers
Mike Story revisits the protein analysis lab of Thermo Finnigan, his old place of employment. Story recently retired from the company.
Although officially retired, Story still serves as a consultant for Thermo Finnigan and is in the middle of writing a chapter in a book on mass spectrometry in the United States for the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. "The science is exciting," Story said. "Many other technologies have kind of plateaued in terms of development, but not mass spectrometry."
Story says he also wants to finish the Japanese garden and waterfall around his house, as well as travel to other countries more after Lucille retires from her job as office administrator of a Sunnyvale preschool in a few years. "That was one of his highlights of his job, being able to travel," Lucille Story said.
With his interest in the Japanese culture, Story says he hopes to re-start his involvement with Hakone Japanese Gardens in Saratoga.
Next fall, Story plans to travel to the desert with his son Kevin for the Burning Man, euphemistically called an "artists' festival." Kevin, 35, is a painter and sculptor who has had his works displayed in various Los Gatos businesses, with a show at the Los Gatos Cigar Shoppe later this year.
The hobby that Story seems most passionate about, however, is woodworking. Story has made a rocking chair for his niece; a cradle for his granddaughter; a set of blocks from different woods--with historical significance to the family--for his granddaughter; and a dump truck for his grandson. The truck, Story says, is modeled after the brown dump truck that's usually parked on the south side of Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, just before the Highway 17 south exit. Story most recently completed a measuring stick for his granddaughter with markings for her height at varying ages. Next he is planning a set of blocks for his grandson.
As someone with a self-professed "analytical and logical personality," Story says that he could not imagine doing any other work. "I'm sure I would've ended up in science one way or another," Story said.
Mass spectrometry, Story predicts, will "expand its capabilities" in the future, especially in the study of proteins. Some attempts have been made to install mass spectrometers in grocery stores to measure residue on vegetables. Although that function is still in the works, Story said, laboratories already use the system to test imported vegetables, such as at the border of the United States and Mexico.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
