Isolation of cellular material under microscopic visualization using an adhesive/extraction reagent tipped probe

A method of direct extraction of cellular material from a tissue sample comprising:

• a) providing a slide-mounted tissue sample from an organism having a plurality of zones of cells, the cells having adhesive forces from connective tissue;
• b) forming an image field of cells of the tissue sample utilizing a microscope;
• c) identifying at least one zone of cells of interest in the image field of cells, the at least one zone of cells of interest having a different type of cell than an adjacent zone of cells;
• d) contacting the at least one zone of cells of interest with an adhesive-tipped probe which has a contact surface area which is equal to or less than a surface area of the at least one zone of cells of interest, wherein the probe has an adhesive/extraction reagent;
• e) retracting the adhesive-tipped probe from the tissue sample with the at least one zone of cells of interest in the image field of cells attached to the contact surface area of the adhesive-tipped probe to break the adhesive forces of the cells of interest from surrounding cells;
• and,
• f) analyzing the at least one zone of cells at a molecular level.