|  | Analysis of biological material 
            by detection of the light-absorbing or fluorescing properties of cells 
            or subcellular fractions (i.e., chromosomes) passing in a narrow stream 
            through a laser beam. An absorbance or fluorescence profile of the 
            sample is produced. Automated sorting devices, used to fractionate 
            samples, sort successive droplets of the analyzed stream into different 
            fractions depending on the fluorescence emitted by each droplet. |  |