Cage Trap
New micro robots will allow manipulating individual cells
Anatoly Glossev, Vesti
Today, optical tweezers are often used to work with individual cells. Recall that in this technology, the sample is captured using the pressure exerted on the desired object by a laser beam.
However, this approach, which at one time became revolutionary and recently brought its creator Arthur Ashkin the Nobel Prize in Physics, is still far from ideal.
"Traditional methods that are used to manipulate individual cells when examining them with microscopy are time-consuming and tedious. In addition, their implementation requires a lot of experience," explains Aaron Wheeler from the University of Toronto, co–author of the new study.
The main problem is that living cells are a fragile material. Researchers are constantly forced to reckon with the danger of pushing too hard and destroying the sample.
To eliminate these shortcomings, new micro-robots were created.
However, the word "robots" should not be misleading. We are not talking about devices that have an on-board computer, batteries, manipulators, and so on. The whole structure is actually a gear wheel less than a millimeter in diameter. With the help of optical tweezers, the researcher controls the movement of such a device, forcing it to capture or release a living cell.
The wheel is hollow in the center and has a cut on one side. To capture the cell, the device passes it through this incision into its internal cavity. Thus, the sample turns out to be "in the house". The pressure of the laser beam acts on the surface of the device, and not on the fragile cell. Therefore, scientists can manipulate samples more freely and move them faster. To release the cage outside, it is enough to turn the wheel so that it comes out through the incision.
A drawing from the University of Toronto Engineering Microrobots press release to change the way we work with cellular material - VM.
"The ability of these light–controlled micro robots to perform non-invasive and precise control, isolation and separation of cells in a complex biological environment makes them a very powerful tool," says the first author of the study Shuailong Zhang (Shuailong Zhang), also from the University of Toronto.
The novelty can be used in cell sorting and RNA sequencing. It can also be used to initiate cell fusion.
"These micro–robots are inexpensive and very easy to use, and they [potentially] have a wide range of applications in the life sciences and beyond," Wheeler concludes.
A scientific article describing the development has been accepted for publication in the PNAS journal.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru