Application of visualization techniques for cell and tissue engineering

Visualization has been an indispensable technique in the biological field. The advantage of visualization is to perform non-disruptive analyses with high spatio and temporal resolution. Using these properties, visualization has been employed for cell and tissue engineering research, including therapeutic protein production, cell and organelle manipulation, and stem cell technology. For cell assessment and manipulation, two-photon microscopy based on femtosecond laser is becoming a major tool because of its high depth resolution, low cell damages, and depth of penetration into tick specimen. Non-disruptive and single cell observation/manipulation technique is a powerful tool for stem cell research. In this review, we discuss recent developments in cell and tissue engineering in relation to the revolution in visualization techniques. (C) 2012, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.