Prospects and developments in cell and embryo laser nanosurgery

Recently, there has been increasing interest in the application of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses to the study of cells, tissues and embryos. This review explores the developments that have occurred within the last several years in the fields of cell and embryo nanosurgery. Each of the individual studies presented in this review clearly demonstrates the nondestructiveness of fs laser pulses, which are used to alter both cellular and subcellular sites within simple cells and more complicated multicompartmental embryos. The ability to manipulate these model systems noninvasively makes applied fs laser pulses an invaluable tool for developmental biologists, geneticists, cryobiologists, and zoologists. We are beginning to see the integration of this tool into life sciences, establishing its status among molecular and genetic cell manipulation methods. More importantly, several studies demonstrating the versatility of applied fs laser pulses have established new collaborations among physicists, engineers, and biologists with the common intent of solving biological problems.