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.
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BibTeX
@misc{hertz2026cell,
title = {{Cell Reproduction in a Dark Optical Trap}},
author = {Ariel Hertz and Gabriel Dias and Carlos L. R. Fragoso and Anna De Falco and A. Z. Khoury and Thiago Guerreiro},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.06193},
eprint = {2609.06193},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.06193},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cell Reproduction in a Dark Optical Trap
AU - Ariel Hertz
AU - Gabriel Dias
AU - Carlos L. R. Fragoso
AU - Anna De Falco
AU - A. Z. Khoury
AU - Thiago Guerreiro
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.06193
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.06193
AB - 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.
ER -