Fragmentation analyses identify molecules structurally via MALDI-IMS. Here a zebrafish eye lens shows different lipids in blue and red.Experimental tools for determining how, when and why particular tissue or organ molecules act in the body were not sophisticated enough to determine exactly where they are produced or where they accumulate to function. Until now. The UAB-created matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry, or MALDI-IMS, has implications in critical research initiatives for many diseases, including cancer, chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases and age-related degenerative diseases.