Abstract: Methods are provided for the ex vivo manipulation of cells, stem cells and other reproductive cells, by manipulating the cells in a container or device comprising an elastic substrate, wherein the substrate has an elasticity that mimics the elasticity of a native microenvironment of the cell.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure encompass microfabrication methods (“reactive microcontact printing of soft matter”) for hydrated soft polymer materials and surfaces for culture platforms suitable for the culturing of isolated single primary mammalian cells in an environment approximating the natural niches of the cells. Such culture platforms may comprise arrays of microwells, or other microscopically textured features, in which individual features can comprise desired proteins or mixtures of proteins. The microfabrication methods of the disclosure allow spatial control of surface biochemistry and topography at the micrometer scale on these hydrated soft gels. The hydrogels and methods of manufacture and use of the disclosure allow the isolation of a single stem cell and the characterizing of its interaction with cytokines and morphogens, especially with regard to modulation of the proliferative capacity of the stem cell when implanted in a recipient host.