Comparison of simple ratios of protein quantities gives a clear indication of cellular metabolism, cell growth, stress and cell death. This assay, which could be plate based, can require as little as 4 hours of sample preparation 20 and 15 mins of machine time per sample, providing accessible data within minutes. Costs of primers for assays such as reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) are more costly than peptides, and are required for continued analysis, whereas synthetic peptides are only required for method development.