Question

what type of information can you glean from forward scatter and side scatter?

Answer 1

In flow cytometry, light that is scattered by an object is detected by different detectors. Forward scatter or FSC is measured by a dectector placed in line with the light beam. Sise scatter or SSC is measured by a dectector placed perpendicular to the beam.

Both FSC and SSC are unique for every object. FSC is based on two propeties of cells-size and refractive index. The FSC intensity roughly equates to the particle size aand can be used to distinguish between cellular debris and living cells.SSC is based on granularity or internal complexity. More SSC is generated if the object is more granular. Dead cells have lower FSC and higher SSC than living cells.