The goal of this work is to investigate the usefulness of the optical tweezers for biological
sample micro-manipulation. We report multiple optical trapping and manipulation of
Escherichia coli cells, immersed in growth medium, by means of diffractive optical elements
(DOE). The DOEs are implemented on a spatial light modulator to generate movable
geometries of traps. We report also an experiment that allows to mimic the mechanical
environment of cells in tissues. Micro-meter sized beads are trapped in circular geometry in …