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Infographic showing how flow cytometry enables researchers to assess several cell parameters simultaneously at a single-cell level with the help of lasers.
Flow Cytometry: Scattering Light to Measure Cells
Scientists analyze and quantify characteristics of cells and other particles with the power of lasers.
Flow Cytometry: Scattering Light to Measure Cells
Flow Cytometry: Scattering Light to Measure Cells

Scientists analyze and quantify characteristics of cells and other particles with the power of lasers.

Scientists analyze and quantify characteristics of cells and other particles with the power of lasers.

fluorescence

A cell with gold particles inside is hit with a red laser.
How Flow Cytometry Spurred Cell Biology
Shelby Bradford, PhD | Jun 14, 2024 | 10+ min read
The ability to rapidly count and measure features of cells opened the research flood gates.
Illustration of newly discovered mechanism allowing kinesin to “walk” down a microtubule. A green kinesin molecule with an attached yellow fluorophore is shown passing through a blue laser as it rotates step by step along a red and purple microtubule, fueled by blue ATP molecules that are hydrolyzed into orange ADP and phosphate groups.
High-Resolution Microscope Watches Proteins Strut Their Stuff
Holly Barker, PhD | Mar 31, 2023 | 3 min read
Modification on a high-resolution fluorescent microscopy technique allow researchers to track the precise movements of motor proteins. 
A scientist loads a 96-well plate containing qPCR reactions into a thermal cycler for DNA amplification and detection.
Insights into qPCR: Protocol, Detection Methods, and Analysis
Tanuka Biswas, PhD | 6 min read
Learn about quantitative PCR (qPCR), including its fundamentals, common applications, modes of detection, and key quantification methods.
Artist’s rendition of translucent teal proteins comprised of red spherical amino acids
Now AI Can Be Used to Design New Proteins
Kamal Nahas, PhD | Mar 3, 2023 | 4 min read
Machine learning can be harnessed to synthesize artificial light-bearing enzymes that actually work in cells.
To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.
Infographic: DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity
Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 2 min read
A new genetic sensor called PRISM makes use of a host cell’s DNA replication machinery to trigger fluorescence in neurons with damaged DNA.
Discover How CF® Dyes Let Scientists Delve Deeper into Biological Phenomena
CF® Dyes: Clearer Fluorescent Results
Biotium | 1 min read
CF®  Dyes combine pegylation and sulfonation to create fluorescent dyes with better signal intensity, more solubility, and superior specificity.
Broken DNA
DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity
Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 3 min read
A new tool called PRISM draws on virus-host interactions and a DNA repair pathway to help researchers visualize how cellular stress may contribute to neurodegenerative disease.
Microscopic image of nerves in the eye, a pathogen, and t cells
Science Snapshot: Eye Immunity
Lisa Winter | May 26, 2022 | 1 min read
Researchers find that tissue-resident memory T cells in the corneas of mice engender a lasting immune response.
A multicolored illustration of a cell undergoing division.
See Beyond the Scatter Plot with Imaging, Spectral Flow Cytometry
The Scientist and BD Biosciences | 3 min read
A novel instrument combines fluorescence-activated cell sorting, imaging flow cytometry, and spectral flow cytometry to advance cell population examination.
An illustration showing a scale weighing two double-stranded pieces of DNA that has a big question mark in the center.
Mouse Foraging Behavior Shaped by Opposite-Sex Parent’s Genes
Dan Robitzski | Apr 12, 2022 | 7 min read
A study in mice finds that for certain genes, one parent’s allele can dominate expression and shape behavior—and which parent’s allele does so varies throughout the body.
Close up photo of a wing
Unearthing the Evolutionary Origins of Insect Wings
Jef Akst | Apr 4, 2022 | 6 min read
A handful of new studies moves the needle toward a consensus on the long-disputed question of whether insect wings evolved from legs or from the body wall, but the devil is in the details.
Lipofuscin autofluorescence was quenched using EverBrite TrueBlack® Hardset Mounting Medium®, allowing effective visualization of glial cells (GFAP antibody stain, cyan) and cell nuclei (magenta) in human cerebral cortex cryosections.
Stepping Out of the Background
The Scientist and Biotium | 4 min read
New developments in non-specific fluorescence quenching offer researchers clearer pictures and more multiplexing possibilities.
Miscellaneous diatoms, appearing as translucent blue and brownish circles and rhomboid shapes, are imaged in front of a black background.
Q&A: Fluorescence Lets Diatoms Communicate, Coordinate Behavior
Dan Robitzski | Dec 16, 2021 | 6 min read
The Scientist spoke with physicist and microbial ecologist Idan Tuval, whose recent paper challenges the assumption that these single-celled organisms only communicate via chemical signals.
Ibrahim Cissé’s Tools Provide a Lens to Watch RNA Production
Jef Akst | Sep 1, 2020 | 3 min read
The MIT physicist has demonstrated the importance of clusters of RNA polymerase and other transcription mediators in regulating RNA production.
Fluorescence microscopy image of cells expressing fluorescent biosensors. Green and magenta fluorescence is observed outside of the cell nuclei.
Choosing Fluorescent Reagents for Every Live Cell Application
The Scientist and MilliporeSigma | 4 min read
Scientists gain unique insights into active biological processes with specific fluorescent probes, dyes, and biosensors.
Image of the Day: An Infectious Glow
Carolyn Wilke | Mar 7, 2019 | 1 min read
In CRISPRed fruit flies that lack certain antimicrobial peptides, bacterial infections flourish, as revealed by fluorescent markers.
Image of the Day: Hot Pink Squirrels
Carolyn Wilke | Feb 15, 2019 | 1 min read
Under UV light, flying squirrels give off a rosy glow.
Discover how flow cytometry accelerates drug screening
Adapting Flow Cytometry for Drug Discovery Workflows
The Scientist and Bio-Rad Laboratories | 1 min read
Explore how flow cytometry innovations expand and accelerate cell profiling.
Image of the Day: Coral Fluorescence
Kerry Grens | Jan 22, 2019 | 1 min read
Green fluorescent protein lures algal symbionts to corals.
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