title: Plant molecular and cellular laser microsurgery.
abstract: The u.v. laser microbeam has facilitated new approaches to the genetic manipulation of plant cells. Under visual control, a focused laser microbeam is able to perforate a plant cell wall, thus facilitating the uptake of genes into target cells, induce protoplast fusion selectively and precisely destroy cells or specific subcellular structures in a single living cell. In addition, by expanding these applications to micro-dissection of chromosomes, microsurgery combined with an optical trap inside cells and patch-clamp studies, will open new genetic, biophysical and cell-specific wall development aspects in cell and molecular biology.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology Division, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Sawahel