This is a nanoinjector: a tiny machine that can inject egg cells like this one with DNA without causing them harm. If you think threading a needle can be fiddly, trying to inject DNA into a single human cell using a syringe (by hand!) is very difficult indeed! Before machines like these, about 40% of egg cells receiving DNA from a syringe would be destroyed. The way a nanoinjector works is very clever; there’s no ‘squeeze’ like that of a syringe. Instead, it uses an electrical charge on the lance to attract DNA, and when the point is inside the egg the charge is reversed and the DNA is released within. Doing so puts very little pressure on the egg and it is more likely to survive.