Simplified to its essence, flow cytometry is like coloring cells with crayons—each cell a different permutations of colors (one: blue and green; another: green and red) based on the permutations of proteins on their surface. The “crayons” are antibodies, carrying chemicals that fluoresce in different colors, that recognize the different proteins on the surface of a cell. A machine can be used to separate cells based on their staining by different permutations of colors.
