Cell Reproduction in a Dark Optical Trap

Abstract:Optical tweezers are a versatile tool in the domain of cytology, enabling trapping and manipulation of individual cells. However, the incidence of laser light causes photodamage to biological matter, even when operating at low optical powers and over short periods of time. Here, we demonstrate stable trapping of single living Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells in vitro using a dark optical trap operating in the repulsive regime of light-matter interactions. In contrast to standard tweezers, our dark optical trap confines cells for hours with negligible disruption to their morphology and reproduction cycle, opening up new possibilities for long duration experiments with living organisms such as the observation of cell reproduction under laser trapping.

8 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Supplemental Material (3 movies) submitted separately

Optics (physics.optics); Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

arXiv:2609.06193 [physics.optics]

(or arXiv:2609.06193v1 [physics.optics] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.06193 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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