A new method for decomposing flow cytometry histograms of isolated human metaphase chromosomes is described and tested. The method is based on fitting a template, composed of the means of all chromosomes of a normal karyotype to the flow histogram. The utility of the method is demonstrated by application to flow measurements of chromosomes from a normal person and comparing the results with those obtained by conventional cytophotometry. The power of the method for detecting gross chromosomal abnormalities, such as trisomy 21, as well as more subtle variations such as a single translocation, is determined for simulated data.