About this Research Topic
Flow cytometry (FC) is a powerful and flexible technology that allows the multiparametric characterization of single cells or small particles. In humans, it is currently used in basic research and diagnosis in oncology, immunology, and haematology.
In the veterinary field it has steadily grown in the last decades for diagnosing and characterizing lymphomas and leukaemias in pets. Furthermore, FC is applied in different areas of possible veterinary interest such as microbiology, virology, pharmacology, reproduction, farm and marine animals, wildlife, aquaculture, food production and control, and more. Finally, it can set or expand its usefulness in different fields with applications aimed, for instance, to help diagnostic/prognostic evaluations in clinical settings, checking the health/welfare status of animals, screening for specific diseases, improving feed quality, vaccine development, warrant food health. Nevertheless, veterinary FC still has critical limitations, such as the availability of reagents and instruments in the field, particularly fluorescent monoclonal antibodies, and the low uptake of the latest technological innovations (imaging or spectral flow cytometry, mass cytometry).
Flow cytometry is a very flexible method with many currently available and possible future applications. Even if specific facilities and skills are available in the veterinary field, it remains a technique that has yet to be discovered by many veterinarians and other insiders. Furthermore, no veterinary journals are dedicated explicitly to flow cytometry or flow cytometric journals have veterinary sections. This Research Topic aims to present the potential of flow cytometry in areas of possible veterinary interest and to give for the first time a distinct ‘home’ to this emerging technology with a collection specifically focused on its applications independently of scientific discipline.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research articles, Brief Research Reports, Systematic Reviews and Review articles focusing on in vivo and in vitro flow cytometric analyses applied in any field of veterinary interest. Studies may be related, but not limited, to: pets, farm animals, sea and wild animals, aquaculture, food production and control
Keywords: flow cytometry, pet health, farm animals, sea animals, wild animals, reproduction, food industry, farming, fishing, eating
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.