Abstract: The invention provides apparatus and methods for subsecond lysis of selected cells in a cell chamber using a voltage pulse of 10 ms to 10 &mgr;s in duration followed by nearly simultaneous collection of the lysed cellular contents into a capillary electrophoresis tube or other suitable micro-collection device. Cell chambers and capillary electrophoresis tubes configured with electrodes for performing the electrical lysis are described. The influence of variables that govern the rate of cell lysis, such as inter-electrode distance, pulse duration, and pulse strength are also described. The methods are illustrated using fluorophores that are loaded into a cell then collected following electrical lysis, separated by electrophoresis, and then detected by laser-induced fluorescence detection in a capillary electrophoresis system.