With the localization of Nobel Prize-winning technology, how can optical tweezers and optoelectronic tweezers reshape medical scenarios such as antibody development and assisted reproduction?
In 2018, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists in the field of laser physics. Among them, Arthur Ashkin, who was 96 years old at the time, won the prize for his "optical tweezers and their applications in biological systems", becoming the oldest Nobel laureate in physics in history.
"Optical Tweezers" (OT for short) are, as the name implies, tweezers made of light. Light is their material, and the "tweezers" function is their application. Although the name contains "tweezers", unlike traditional tweezers that need to physically contact and grip objects, optical tweezers are a non - mechanical contact manipulation technology. Through the force generated by a highly focused laser beam, they can precisely manipulate tiny objects such as cells, viruses, and DNA, just like invisible tweezers.
The manipulation principle of optical tweezers lies in the gradient force and scattering force generated by the laser beam. The gradient force is like a magnet attracting iron filings, pulling tiny objects towards the central area of the beam where the light intensity is the strongest; while the scattering force is like a flowing stream pushing duckweed, slightly moving the objects along the propagation direction of the beam. It is the exquisite cooperation of these two forces that enables optical tweezers to "grab" and move target objects from a distance.
The breakthrough of optical tweezers inspired more innovations. In 2005, the research team led by Professor Ming Wu from the University of California, Berkeley was inspired by optical tweezers and introduced a light - controlled electric field into the field of particle manipulation, inventing the optoelectronic tweezer technology (OET). In 2011, they founded Berkeley Lights to industrialize the optoelectronic tweezer technology. In July 2020, the company was listed on the NASDAQ in the United States and was later acquired by Bruker, a leading instrument company.
Although there is only one character difference between "optical tweezers" and "optoelectronic tweezers", they are completely different technological paths. Optical tweezers rely on the mechanical effect of light to achieve micro - and nano - scale manipulation, while optoelectronic tweezers are a new manipulation system based on a light - induced electric field. The former manipulates micro - and nano - particles through the optical gradient force and scattering force, while the latter uses a projection device to generate dynamic light virtual electrodes to form a non - uniform electric field to drive micro - and nano - objects. The two technologies are complementary and show broad application prospects in the biomedical field.
With the significant advantages of "non - mechanical contact, low damage, and high precision", optical tweezers and optoelectronic tweezers have become important research tools in fields such as life science, physical chemistry. Especially in the biomedical and medical fields, they are breaking through the bottlenecks of traditional technologies in terms of precision, damage, and invasiveness, and revolutionizing the operation methods in various medical scenarios such as assisted reproduction and drug delivery.
Given that optical tweezers and optoelectronic tweezers have different technological paths, different application focuses, and their names are easily confused, this article will be divided into two parts to analyze them in detail respectively.
Optical tweezers and optoelectronic tweezers, charted by Arterynet
01 Part One: Optical Tweezers
A Nobel - winning technology, achieving a leap from passive observation to active regulation
After the optical tweezer technology was invented by American scientist Arthur Ashkin in 1986, due to its non - contact characteristic, it showed unique advantages in the research of living biological cells, that is, it causes minimal damage to the sample during the operation. Ashkin deeply recognized this and conducted a large number of innovative studies in this field. In 2018, Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers and using them in various biomedical applications. [1]
After forty years of development, the research scope of optical tweezer technology has expanded from the initial micron - sized spheres to the atomic and nano - levels, and the shapes and materials of the captured objects have also been greatly enriched and expanded. Its combination with other technologies such as microfluidic systems, fluorescence imaging, Raman spectroscopy, and super - resolution microscopy has greatly increased the number and efficiency of manipulable particles, enriched the manipulation functions, further improved the experimental throughput and application scope, and has now become a key tool for manipulating cells and biological macromolecules, and studying their mechanical properties and dynamic behaviors in life processes.
The core advantage of optical tweezers is that they have non - direct contact and minimal interference with the life activities of biological particles. The living environment of cells involved in the operation system is almost equivalent to the "natural" environment, so the changes in the life activities of biological particles can be completely preserved and presented "in real - time and dynamically". More importantly, this technology gives researchers the ability to "actively manipulate", allowing them to artificially adjust any link in the life activities, achieving a major leap from passive observation to active regulation.
According to the observation of Arterynet, the main application scenarios of optical tweezers at present are concentrated in the field of life science instruments, the field of assisted reproduction, and the capture of extremely small amounts of cells in other medical and life science fields. Changguang Chenying and Sperm Catcher are representative domestic enterprises in this field.
Life science research instruments: A powerful tool for precise single - cell microscopic manipulation that can be combined with other technologies
Optical tweezers have become a key tool in basic life science research, and their value is mainly reflected in three aspects: First, the technical principle fits the basic research scenarios. Optical tweezers can manipulate biological particles at the micro - and nano - scale in a non - direct contact manner, which is naturally suitable for the study of single - molecule and single - cell dynamics. For example, manipulating a single DNA molecule to study its mechanical properties of stretching and folding; or manipulating viruses or bacteria to observe their interaction mechanisms with host cells.
Second, it has a high degree of tool - standardization and is easy to integrate. Since Ashkin invented the single - beam optical tweezers in 1986, the technology has been developed for nearly 40 years, giving rise to forms such as holographic optical tweezers, photothermal tweezers, photoacoustic tweezers, and optoelectronic tweezers. Its standardized equipment has become a regular instrument in biophysics and single - molecule biology laboratories. Moreover, optical tweezers can be combined with technologies such as fluorescence imaging, Raman spectroscopy, and super - resolution microscopy to achieve the integration of "manipulation - observation". Especially when combined with artificial intelligence, the role of optical tweezers is even more prominent.
Third, it meets the rigid demand for "non - contact manipulation" in high - end scientific research. In fields such as nanobiology and colloid chemistry, traditional mechanical contact will damage the samples or introduce pollution. The non - direct contact and low - damage characteristics of optical tweezers (especially in the near - infrared band) make them an indispensable tool in many fields.
Changguang Chenying was established in 2017, relying on the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to solve microscopic problems in life science, biopharmaceuticals, and industrial testing. In June 2024, the company received tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing led by Shimui Venture Capital, with follow - on investments from Shunwei Capital and Xiaochi Capital. Taking its representative product, the Scatcher single - cell microscopic optical tweezer manipulation and sorting system, as an example, this product has a powerful ability to manipulate tiny objects microscopically. It can efficiently capture, freely manipulate, and visually and precisely separate bacteria, fungi, microalgae, animal cells, and microparticles of different sizes and shapes under a microscope. The yield rate of single cells and the success rate of culture are as high as over 95%, ensuring the effective acquisition of rare cells and low - abundance target cells. Moreover, Scatcher can be combined with a variety of observation and detection equipment to achieve the integrated and automated operation of single - cell detection, manipulation, and separation. This not only improves the experimental efficiency but also helps researchers better understand the structure and function of cells. (Related recommendation: "[Exclusive] Changguang Chenying Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Series A Financing, Establishing an International - Level Optical Tool Platform for Life Science")
Assisted reproduction: Sperm screening is the main battlefield of optical tweezers, especially in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) process
An interesting observation is that in the field of assisted reproduction, optical tweezers are mainly used for sperm manipulation, such as sperm screening and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
Why are they more commonly used for sperm rather than eggs? It is mainly due to three reasons: the biological characteristics of gametes, the technical adaptability, and the clinical pain points.
From a biological perspective, sperm are more suitable for the manipulation scale of optical tweezers. Sperm are about 50 - 60 μm in length, and the diameter of the head is only 3 - 5 μm. They are typical micron - sized targets, with a simple structure and a large quantity (tens of millions in a single ejaculation). The optical gradient force of optical tweezers is sufficient to stably capture them.
In terms of technical adaptability, the optical tweezer manipulation technology can avoid mechanical damage and can precisely locate and capture fast - swimming sperm. In addition, through computer control, a control accuracy of less than 0.1 micron can be achieved.
From a clinical demand perspective, the pain points in sperm manipulation are more prominent. For in vitro fertilization, sperm selection must ensure that the sperm are active and undamaged. Sperm with poor morphology may have a high DNA fragmentation rate, which will have a negative impact on the clinical outcome of assisted reproduction and may even lead to adverse clinical results. How to select a single, active, and well - shaped sperm from a large number of constantly moving sperm is a crucial step in the assisted reproduction treatment process. Currently, the most common method is for embryologists to visually evaluate sperm under a microscope and then manually select them. This method is highly subjective, and during the sperm selection process, the manual operation of embryologists will inevitably bring some individual differences, making it difficult to control the quality. Especially for patients with oligospermia and asthenospermia, the process of selecting high - quality sperm takes too long and cannot be traced.
Sperm Catcher was established in 2022. It is a high - end scientific research instrument and innovative medical device R & D and manufacturing enterprise, as well as a scientific research analysis instrument technology platform service provider, integrating industry, academia, and research based on optical imaging, automated micro - and nano - manipulation, and artificial intelligence technologies. In early 2025, the company completed nearly 30 million yuan in Pre - A round financing. After the financing, within half a year, supported by its core product, the "Intelligent Non - Labeled Identification and Non - Damaging Capture Technology Platform for Living Cells", Sperm Catcher successively developed a series of products, achieving a complete product matrix ranging from millions of yuan, hundreds of thousands of yuan, tens of thousands of yuan, thousands of yuan to hundreds of yuan. Starting from the high - end scientific research and medical markets, it has successfully entered the trillion - level consumer - grade market.
Take the "Intelligent Living Sperm Selection Workstation" as an example. It combines optical tweezers, (ultra) high - resolution imaging, and artificial intelligence model analysis technologies to achieve simultaneous measurement of sperm motility, morphology, and structure. It classifies sperm according to their movement characteristics and morphological and structural features, selects the single most active and well - shaped living sperm from a large number of constantly moving sperm, and automatically captures and transfers the selected sperm. The whole process of selection takes less than 15 seconds. It has the advantages of being label - free, intelligent, and non - damaging, and can also save relevant information of the selected sperm for clinical use and traceability. This product has been applied in the medical and livestock industries. (Related recommendation: "Starting from sperm selection, Sperm Catcher uses the power of 'light' to achieve a leap from destructive to non - invasive acquisition of living cells")
The "Intelligent Living Sperm Selection Workstation" developed by Sperm Catcher won the "Patent - Intensive Product Recognition Certificate" issued by the State Intellectual Property Office of China in 2025.
Fang Yaliang, the chairman and CEO of Sperm Catcher, said that optical tweezers have non - direct contact, no mechanical damage, and can precisely capture micro - and nano - scale particles. With the continuous upgrading of optical imaging and artificial intelligence technologies, the combination of optical tweezers with optical imaging and artificial intelligence technologies is becoming closer. They can or have already achieved the precise identification and capture of extremely small amounts of single cells in many scientific research and medical scenarios in some aspects, greatly improving work efficiency and clinical significance. For example, the precise capture of fetal nucleated red blood cells (FNRBC) in maternal blood, cochlear hair cells, sex - controlled selection of bovine sperm, and other extremely small amounts of cells. This technology platform will, like other widely used platform technologies, penetrate into every subdivision field of scientific research, medical treatment, and life science, form a new track, and become a new mainstream application technology.
02 Part Two: Optoelectronic tweezers
Optoelectronic tweezers mainly rely on irradiating a photoconductive material with a light spot to generate a non - uniform electric field, which in turn generates a dielectrophoretic force to drive nano - and micro - scale targets. They have the advantages of being able to manipulate multiple tiny objects in parallel and driving larger - scale objects. These characteristics of optoelectronic tweezer technology make it widely applicable to operations such as the screening of specific particles, the rapid arrangement of tiny objects, and the separation and transportation of tiny objects, and it has good application prospects in the fields of biomedicine and micro - and nano - precision processing.
Research based on optoelectronic tweezers has been widely applied in the field of life science, including cell sorting, cell analysis, DNA transfection, and cell fusion. For example, living cells and dead cells have different polarization characteristics, which allows optoelectronic tweezers to exert a greater manipulation force on living cells, enabling living cells to have a greater manipulation speed and effectively separating living cells from dead cells.
In addition, optoelectronic tweezers can also analyze the dynamic response of cells, such as studying the self - rotation behavior of cells treated with different drug concentrations. Due to the influence of drugs on the cell membrane, the electrode polarization characteristics of cells change, and their self - rotation speed decreases as the drug concentration increases. Optoelectronic tweezer technology can also be used to construct virtual electrodes to achieve cell electroporation and DNA transfection. The successful transfection of DNA plasmids can be verified by the expression of green, red, and blue fluorescent proteins in transfected cells. Experiments have shown that optimizing the illumination time and the geometric shape of the light spot can improve the cell transfection efficiency.
In addition, optoelectronic tweezer technology can manipulate multiple cells to achieve pairing. Combining with the light - induced electroporation effect, paired cells can be fused into a hybrid cell, which is applied in monoclonal antibody production, cell reprogramming, cancer immunotherapy, etc.
Barriers to the industrialization of optoelectronic tweezers: High know - how threshold, high R & D costs, and the early stage of market education
Although optoelectronic tweezer technology shows great potential in medical applications, its industrialization has just begun, and there are only a few enterprises in the world that truly master the core technology and achieve commercial implementation.
Looking back at its industrialization process: In 2005, the research team led by Professor Ming Wu from the University of California, Berkeley first invented the optoelectronic tweezer technology; in 2011, Professor Wu founded Berkeley Lights, committed to the commercialization of this technology; its core equipment was officially launched into the market around 2017. Berkeley Lights was listed on the NASDAQ in July 2020 and was finally acquired by Bruker, a leading scientific instrument company, in 2023. Since then, overseas manufacturers have formed a monopoly. The price of a single device exceeds 2