Everything You Need To Know About Fixable Viability Dye

Scientists or researchers when following up with designing their cytometry experiment, notice a cloud of dead cell stain left in the results. These clouds of dead cell stains are known as non-viable cells. These stains can feel like not a big deal, but they can have a huge impact on the output of an experiment, such as reducing the visibility, giving false positives, and so on. Now, let’s see

why fixable viability dye is important:

What is Fixable Viability Dye?

The removal of the dead cell stains, i.e., non-viable cells in a cytometry experiment is possible due to a dead cell stain kit. The kit is known as fixable viability dye. The use of this kit will allow the separation of dead cells from live cells. This is done with the help of cell membranes present in the cell structure.

How Does A Fixable Viability Dye Work?

Fixable Viability Dye, also known as FVD, works its magic by penetrating the compromised membranes being used for the cytometry experiment. The method revolves around adding the dye, which is green and red in color, to the cell membrane. The green dye penetrates both kinds of cells, i.e., dead and live, whereas the red ones only penetrate the dead ones. The red dye contains an element named Propidium Iodide, which works toward coloring the cells that no longer have their cell membranes intact in the body, hence the dead cells.

They then work towards separating the dead cells from the live ones by marking them. Then after the separation, comes the prospect of fixation & permeabilization for a better understanding of the experiment.

Why is Fixable Viability Dye Important?

The procedure of using Fixable Viability Dye includes the coloring of the dead cell cloud in a different color than the live ones.

● To get absolute accuracy in the data, so that the output result would be right, this dye is used.

● As it fixes the presence of dead cells, the actual positioning of the live ones can be measured to the prime.

● Plus, it also increases the visibility factor for the binding of the cells, thus the possibility of getting a false positive reduces to a great extent.

● The Fixable Viability Dye does not wash out of the cell membranes for a long time. Plus, they are suitable for Ultraviolet, Red, Blue, and Violet lasers used for cytometry experiments.

● The researchers can go with either fixing the presence of the dead cells or just staining it for a better understanding of their experiments.

This is what makes Fixable Viability Dye an important part of your experiments. So, instead of taking the issue lightly, make sure that your experiment results are to the point.