Laser-guidance based detection of cells with single-gene modification.

An optical method with single-gene sensitivity for cell detection based on laser guidance was explored. Guided by the optical force from a weakly focused laser beam, a cell will move along the laser axis. Cells with different properties experience different optical forces and thus guidance speeds. The guidance speeds of the TC-1 cell and its genetically modified counterpart with only one gene change, L-10 cell, were studied under the same conditions. The results demonstrated that this laser guidance-based speed-measurement method can precisely distinguish cells that differ by only one gene.