The plasma membrane of mammalian cells can be transiently permeablized by 
optical means and exogenous materials or genes can be introduced into the 
cytoplasm of living cells. Until now, few mechanisms were exploited for the 
manipulation: laser is directly and tightly focused on the cells for 
optoinjection, laser-induced stress waves, photochemical internalization, and 
irradiation of selective cell targeting with light-absorbing particles. During 
the past few years, extensive progress and numerous breakthroughs have been made 
in this area of research. This review covers four different laser-assisted 
transfection techniques and their advantages and disadvantages. Universality 
towards various cell lines is possibly the main advantage of laser-assisted 
optoporation in comparison with presently existing methods of cell transfection.