Method and apparatus for performing multiple simultaneous manipulations of biomolecules in a two dimensional array

A method for determining the location(s) of one or more biomolecules present within a sample wherein the biomolecules have a 2-dimensional relationship to each other in the sample, comprising:

• positioning the sample with respect to an External Movement Inhibitor (EMI) device while preserving the relative 2-dimensional relationship of the biomolecules to each other, wherein the EMI device comprises a plurality of wells or a plurality of through-holes and a plurality of needles or probes;
• sequestering the one or more biomolecules from specific regions of the sample in the plurality of wells or the plurality of through-holes of the EMI device while preserving the relative 2-dimensional relationship of the biomolecules to each other, such that the biomolecules in the locations in the EMI device have the same relative spatial positions that they had in the sample prior to sequestering them in the EMI device;
• manipulating the one or more sequestered biomolecules within the plurality of wells or through-holes of the EMI device while preserving the relative 2-dimensional relationship of the biomolecules to each other, wherein manipulating comprises nucleic acid amplification, reverse transcription, cloning, or a combination of two or more thereof;
• and
• determining the location of one or more wells or through-holes in the EMI device which contain the one or more preselected biomolecules, thereby permitting a determination of the locations in the sample in which the preselected biomolecules were present.