Flow cytometry

High-dimensional cytometry experiments measuring 20–50 cellular markers have become routine in many laboratories. The increased complexity of these datasets requires added rigor during the experimental planning and the subsequent manual and computational data analysis to avoid artefacts and misinterpretation of results. Here we discuss pitfalls frequently encountered during high-dimensional cytometry data analysis and aim to provide a basic framework and recommendations for reporting and analyzing these datasets.

For genome-wide screens and other applications that require the processing of a large number of cells, the immunomagnetic sorting of cells on a microfluidic chip is a scalable, rapid and cost-efficient alternative to fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

Unlike most organisms, planaria maintain pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) beyond embryogenesis. A new study reports the prospective identification and isolation of a neoblast subpopulation containing adult PSCs, characterization of which should help uncover the mechanisms underlying pluripotency and tissue regeneration.