Application of femtosecond laser scalpel and optical tweezers for noncontact biopsy of late preimplantation embryos

We demonstrate that one of the key steps of preimplantation genetic diagnosis called embryo biopsy can be successfully performed in noncontact mode by means of femtosecond laser scalpel and optical tweezers. Embryo biopsy was carried out in late-stage mouse preimplantation embryos. Femtosecond laser pulses were applied to detach the desired amount of trophectoderm cells from the blastocyst, while the optical tweezers trapped the cells and moved them out of the embryo. The parameters of laser radiation were optimized so as to efficiently perform embryo biopsy and preserve the viability of the treated embryos.