Our Mill Hill site recently took delivery of the first Fortessa X30 in the country. As promised, here are a few more details...
This is the flagship flow cytometer from BD Biosciences which allows for the analysis of 27 fluorophores as well as forward and side scatter. Ours has 5 lasers: a 355nm UV, a 405nm violet, a 488nm blue, a 561nm yellow/green and a 640nm red. The signals generated from each laser line are detected by an octagon of PMTs allowing for up to 8 fluorophores per laser. Currently the cytometer is configured for 6 UV parameters, 8 violet, 5 blue, 5 yellow green and 3 red. As with the standard Fortessas, the optical filters can easily be changed, opening up a huge range of potential fluorophores and this number will only increase as new fluorophores are developed. The X30 hardware also has the potential for further development with the addition of more PMTs up to a maximum of 60 further enhancing the range of fluorescent markers available.
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| Graham putting the X30 through its paces |
But there is a lot we can do with what we currently have. Even for those who don't need a huge number of fluorochromes, the X30 and our two new X20's will be a big help. The number of different lasers and detectors available means a wider choice of fluorochromes so we can really optimise what we use for each marker and how they will combine, potentially with less compensation and data spread too. But these machines will have the biggest impact on our users who are already working with 13 or 14 colour experiments and keen to expand still further. With the X30 on site and the recent addition of brilliant UV and brilliant violet dyes to the market, huge multicolour experiments are on their way to the Crick!
We'll report back with more on this once we start really putting it through it's paces and getting some results. In the mean time, here's a little look inside...
Phil and Kirsty.
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| Octagons and a lot of PMTS |
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| Red laser octagon |
