Patent ID: 7588940

Claim:
A method of incorporating particles of foreign matter into living cells having a cell wall or a cell membrane using an optical trapping system comprising: providing a liposome having an outer leaf, and containing at least one particle of foreign matter within said liposome; providing an optical trapping mechanism including a laser which emits a laser beam, said optical trapping system including a diffractive optical element which receives said laser beam and forms a plurality of separate laser beams, and providing a focusing element disposed downstream from said diffractive optical element; wherein said diffractive optical element cooperates with said focusing element to separately converge each of the laser beams to form a focused spot or focal region to establish means for forming a separate first optical trap within the spot for each liposome containing said at least one particle of foreign matter using one of the separate laser beams for each at least one particle of foreign matter; providing at least one living cell having a cell interior or cell membrane; using a separate second optical trap produced by said optically trapping system, to hold and orient said cell in three dimensions; using an optical scalpel to cut away enough of the cell wall or the cell membrane to expose a region of the cell wall or the cell membrane for subsequent liposome fusion; using said first optical trap to move and orient the liposome in three dimensions, into proximity with the cell wall or cell membrane at the exposed region; fusing the liposome to the cell by at least one of chemically fusing the liposome to the cell wall or cell membrane at the exposed region by action of proteins or other biochemical agents incorporated into the outer leaf of the liposome, or optically fusing the liposome to the cell membrane at the exposed region by using a pulse of laser light directed at an interface of the liposome-cell wall or cell membrane; puncturing the liposome-cell wall or cell membrane interface after fusing of the liposome to the cell; and transferring the liposome's contents into the cell to move said at least one particle of foreign matter from said liposome into said cell interior while said liposome and said cell are held in said three dimensions by said respective first and said second optical traps.