A Microinjection Technique Converting Living Cells into Test Tubes

Abstract

Although techniques to micromanipulate and to inject individual cells had been devised already at the beginning of this century (Barber 1914), this approach did not come to prominence until the last two decades when biologically important macromolecules had been purified and means were required to assay them within their natural environment: the living cell. We have developed a microinjection technique which employs glass microcapillaries for the transfer of biological materials into mammalian tissue culture cells. Since the technical aspects of the instrumentation and its handling have been described in detail recently (Graessmann et al. 1980; Celis et al. 1980), only a short summary of the essential steps will be given.