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Credit: Rhoda Baer
Researchers say they have developed a pipette that can transfer a single cell at a time.
The device, called the handheld single-cell pipette (hSCP), has 2 plungers. The first is used to wash and capture a single cell, and the second can release the cell in the desired location.
Lidong Qin, PhD, of Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, and his colleagues described the hSCP and reported preliminary results with the device in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
“Studying single cells and their unique functions has become a frontier in current biomedical research,” Dr Qin said. “One of the biggest challenges for single-cell research is picking out only one cell from a collection of millions of cells.”
He noted that current techniques for withdrawing single cells from a tube or Petri dish can be cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming.
“Some old and clumsy methods are used to capture single cells,” he explained. “Some researchers use their mouths at one end of the pipette, driven by their own mouth force, to try to ensure only a minimum amount of cell suspension collected. The sample is then checked with a microscope to find out the number of cells captured. The opportunity to get only one cell is hit-or-miss and a bit troublesome.”
“One company provides a million-dollar machine that can help biologists transfer single cells to 96-well plates. Each run costs an additional $1000 to purchase the plate. Such technology will not be widely accessible to biologists.”
With that in mind, Dr Qin and his colleagues developed their 2-plunger hSCP. The first plunger withdraws fluid from a suspension of cells.
Fluid travels through canals on either side of a nanoscopic, laser-sculpted “hook” that is just big enough to trap a single cell. This hook can be altered depending on the size and type of cells a researcher is using.
The first plunger is also used to wash and separate the captured cell from other cells that may have been extracted. The second plunger pushes the captured cell out of the pipette into growth medium or onto a slide or welled plate for study.
Dr Qin said one of his goals is to make the technology cost $10 or less per run. And future designs of the hSCP will be developed with mass production in mind.
Dr Qin said his group can also produce hSCPs that pick up virtually any small number of cells, depending on a scientist’s needs, by etching more hooks during the pipette’s construction. 
Credit: Rhoda Baer
Researchers say they have developed a pipette that can transfer a single cell at a time.
The device, called the handheld single-cell pipette (hSCP), has 2 plungers. The first is used to wash and capture a single cell, and the second can release the cell in the desired location.
Lidong Qin, PhD, of Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, and his colleagues described the hSCP and reported preliminary results with the device in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
“Studying single cells and their unique functions has become a frontier in current biomedical research,” Dr Qin said. “One of the biggest challenges for single-cell research is picking out only one cell from a collection of millions of cells.”
He noted that current techniques for withdrawing single cells from a tube or Petri dish can be cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming.
“Some old and clumsy methods are used to capture single cells,” he explained. “Some researchers use their mouths at one end of the pipette, driven by their own mouth force, to try to ensure only a minimum amount of cell suspension collected. The sample is then checked with a microscope to find out the number of cells captured. The opportunity to get only one cell is hit-or-miss and a bit troublesome.”
“One company provides a million-dollar machine that can help biologists transfer single cells to 96-well plates. Each run costs an additional $1000 to purchase the plate. Such technology will not be widely accessible to biologists.”
With that in mind, Dr Qin and his colleagues developed their 2-plunger hSCP. The first plunger withdraws fluid from a suspension of cells.
Fluid travels through canals on either side of a nanoscopic, laser-sculpted “hook” that is just big enough to trap a single cell. This hook can be altered depending on the size and type of cells a researcher is using.
The first plunger is also used to wash and separate the captured cell from other cells that may have been extracted. The second plunger pushes the captured cell out of the pipette into growth medium or onto a slide or welled plate for study.
Dr Qin said one of his goals is to make the technology cost $10 or less per run. And future designs of the hSCP will be developed with mass production in mind.
Dr Qin said his group can also produce hSCPs that pick up virtually any small number of cells, depending on a scientist’s needs, by etching more hooks during the pipette’s construction.
Credit: Rhoda Baer
Researchers say they have developed a pipette that can transfer a single cell at a time.
The device, called the handheld single-cell pipette (hSCP), has 2 plungers. The first is used to wash and capture a single cell, and the second can release the cell in the desired location.
Lidong Qin, PhD, of Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, and his colleagues described the hSCP and reported preliminary results with the device in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
“Studying single cells and their unique functions has become a frontier in current biomedical research,” Dr Qin said. “One of the biggest challenges for single-cell research is picking out only one cell from a collection of millions of cells.”
He noted that current techniques for withdrawing single cells from a tube or Petri dish can be cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming.
“Some old and clumsy methods are used to capture single cells,” he explained. “Some researchers use their mouths at one end of the pipette, driven by their own mouth force, to try to ensure only a minimum amount of cell suspension collected. The sample is then checked with a microscope to find out the number of cells captured. The opportunity to get only one cell is hit-or-miss and a bit troublesome.”
“One company provides a million-dollar machine that can help biologists transfer single cells to 96-well plates. Each run costs an additional $1000 to purchase the plate. Such technology will not be widely accessible to biologists.”
With that in mind, Dr Qin and his colleagues developed their 2-plunger hSCP. The first plunger withdraws fluid from a suspension of cells.
Fluid travels through canals on either side of a nanoscopic, laser-sculpted “hook” that is just big enough to trap a single cell. This hook can be altered depending on the size and type of cells a researcher is using.
The first plunger is also used to wash and separate the captured cell from other cells that may have been extracted. The second plunger pushes the captured cell out of the pipette into growth medium or onto a slide or welled plate for study.
Dr Qin said one of his goals is to make the technology cost $10 or less per run. And future designs of the hSCP will be developed with mass production in mind.
Dr Qin said his group can also produce hSCPs that pick up virtually any small number of cells, depending on a scientist’s needs, by etching more hooks during the pipette’s construction.