Research highlights: manipulating cells inside and out

We highlight recent work manipulating cells: from whole cells, to intracellular content, and even subcellular gradients in proteins. In the first manuscript, using interdigitated electrode arrays at a controlled tilt angle to a microchannel allows for an array of acoustic nodes that apply force and isolate larger circulating tumor cells from remaining cells in RBC-lysed blood. Moving to the subcellular scale, recent work shows the ability to use rapid bubble generation induced by a pulsed laser to transfect hundreds of thousands of cells in parallel, especially with larger cargo, such as live bacteria. Manipulating at an even finer level, our third highlighted paper applies magnetic nanoparticle-based techniques to the localization of proteins within the cytoplasm in gradient configurations. A recurring theme in the literature is how interfacing at the cellular scale is a key feature enabled by micro & nanotechnology. This feature can be exploited to achieve new capabilities for cell biologists which opens up new fundamental cell biology questions. This matching of scales and the unique advantages are well demonstrated in the articles highlighted.