Insight, innovation, integrationRaman tweezers can be used to trap and interrogate single eukaryotic cells to provide a Raman spectrum of their chemical components. The technique promises to be a powerful aid to cell biologists and integrative biology because it allows species such as proteins, nucleic acids, amides and lipids to be identified in an isolated cell that is free from the influence of other cells and extrinsic factors such as inter-cell signalling events. Furthermore dynamic changes in cell composition can be observed with higher spatial resolution than obtainable with infrared spectra. An exciting application of the technique can be found in the characterisation of eukaryotic cells in different states of development such as cancer cells. Even though their Raman spectra are similar it is possible to discriminate between different cancer and non-cancer cell lines using advanced statistical treatments of their Raman spectra. The combined features of chemical identification under dynamic conditions with high enough spatial resolution to follow events at the sub-cellular level without recourse to labelling therefore offer great potential for future imaging in cell biology.