Cell manipulation means the preparation of retrieved cells to make them suitable for transplantation. Experimentation on animal or human stem cells that alters either their genetic makeup or the biochemical that those cells produce. Over the past decade (a period of ten years.), miniaturized devices known as ‘micro total analysis systems’ or ‘lab on a chip’ devices have been repeatedly developed for cell manipulation and analysis. Soft lithography introduced in the late 1990s has become the most common method.
Cell manipulation in microfluidics:
Recent advances in the lab-on-a-chip field in association with microfluidics have been made for new applications and functionalities to the fields of molecular biology, genetic analysis, and proteomics, enabling the expansion of the cell biology field. Microfluidics hasdelivered encouraging tools for growing cell biological research since it has the ability to definitely control the cellular environment.It is used to easily imitate heterogeneous cellular environment by multiplexing, and to analyze sub-cellular information by high-contents screening assays at the single-cell level. Various cell manipulation techniques in microfluidics have been developed in agreement with specific objectives and applications. In this review, we inspect the latest achievements of cell manipulation techniques in microfluidics by categorizing externally applied forces for manipulation: (i) optical, (ii) magnetic, (iii) electrical, (iv) mechanical and (v) other manipulations. We moreover focus on history where the manipulation techniques originate and also discuss future perspectives with key examples where available.
Cell manipulation could lead to a new laboratory tool that will allow scientists to build and move microscopic cells that could lead to the development of better treatments for disease. Scientists have uncovered how microscopic cells can be manipulated and studied more clearly in 3D using a high-intensity infrared light.
The accurate study of cells has earlier been limited by technologies that were only capable of studying cells on a macro scale. This latest development will allow scientists, in the laboratory, to restore the tiny worlds where cells live and in turn understand how they grow and function.
Specific advantages in micro device-based cell manipulation research include:
- Miniaturized devices present enormous opportunities to analyze, characterize, and manipulate cells.
- High throughput
- Reduction of reagent consumption and the number of cells required,
- Tight control of physical and chemical factors,
- Tight control of signal gradients
- Single-cell manipulation.
- Applications of cloning in animal breeding and importantly, in cell biology, blossomed. Hurdles to cell manipulation were overcome and new technologies have evolved.
Pinpoint Cell Penetrator for Targeted Microinjection 