Why flow cytometry?
What is flow cytometry and where does it fit within your research.
Cytometry is translated as the measurement of cells, where cells are the basic biological unit of all organisms
Flow Cytometry is the technology used to measure different parameters of a particle (cell) flowing in suspension past a sensing point. In modern flow cytometers the particles flow past a laser, and the scattered and fluorescent light is collected by detectors and converted to electronic signals for real time analysis within dedicated software. Although, the particles tend to be cells, settings can be optimised for beads (used for calibration), extracellular vesicles (ECVs), nuclei and lipid bubbles amongst others.
As samples must be in a single cell suspension, the biggest disadvantage with flow cytometry is the loss of in situ information. However, in contrast with imaging techniques, it does allow analysis of thousands of particles/cells per second leading to identification of multiple subpopulations.
Use of a cell sorter yields separated and purified populations of interest or single cells suitable for downstream applications, such as functional assays or genomic and transcriptomic analyses.
The IRR Flow Cytometry and cell sorting facility houses a range of analysers and sorters, suited to a wide range of applications.
Please contact the facility manager if you would like to discuss your experimental requirements in further detail or create a user account.
Facility Manager : Fiona Rossi