The installation of FACS was completed in the core facility on 28/04/2023. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) is a technique used to sort and purify specific populations of cells based on their physical and chemical characteristics, including fluorescence. FACS is performed using a specialized instrument called a fluorescence-activated cell sorter, or FACS machine.

FACS machines use lasers to excite fluorescently labeled cells as they pass through a flow cytometer, which measures the amount of fluorescence emitted by each cell. The machine then uses this information to sort the cells into different populations based on their fluorescence intensity and other physical characteristics, such as size and shape.

FACS is widely used in many fields of research, including immunology, stem cell research, cancer biology, and microbiology. Some common applications of FACS include:

• Cell subset isolation: FACS can be used to isolate specific cell subsets from complex tissues or cell populations based on their fluorescence intensity and other physical characteristics.
• Single-cell analysis: FACS can be used to sort and analyze individual cells, which is useful for studying heterogeneity in cell populations and identifying rare cell types.
• Cell cycle analysis: FACS can be used to analyze cell cycle progression in real-time, allowing researchers to track changes in the cell cycle over time or in response to different treatments.
• Gene expression analysis: FACS can be used to isolate specific cell populations for gene expression analysis using techniques such as RNA sequencing or microarray analysis.
• Functional assays: FACS can be used to isolate and purify cells for functional assays, such as cell proliferation assays or cytokine secretion assays.

Overall, FACS is a powerful tool for cell sorting and analysis, and its use is critical to many areas of research in the life sciences.

For enquiries and booking, contact Core Instrumentation Facility, IAV  (corefacility@iav.res.in)