ABSTRACT

The selective analysis and treatment of single cells and cellular components is of key importance for biotechnology, molecular medicine, and pharmacology. Innovations in these fields become more and more dependent on advanced manipulation technology for microscopic objects. Standard automated cell-sorting or transfection methods have been developed for bulk cell suspensions and are of little use when quantitative single-cell-testing assays should be developed. Mechanical means of manipulating single cells, such as micropipettes with microscopically thin tips, are limited to a small number of applications.