Cell rotation is one of the most important techniques for cell manipulation in modern bioscience, as it not only permits cell observation from any arbitrary angle, but also simplifies the procedures for analyzing the mechanical properties of cells, characterizing cell physiology, and performing microsurgery. Numerous approaches have been reported for rotating cells in a wide range of academic and industrial applications. Among them, the most popular are micro-robot-based direct contact manipulation and field-based non-contact methods (e.g., optical, magnetic, electric, acoustic, and hydrodynamic methods). This review first summarizes the fundamental mechanisms, merits, and demerits of these six main groups of approaches, and then discusses their differences and limitations in detail. We aim to bridge the gap between each method and illustrate the development progress, current advances, and prospects in the field of cell rotation.

细胞旋转是现代生物科学中最重要的细胞操作技术之一，因为它不仅允许从任意角度观察细胞，而且还简化了分析细胞机械特性、表征细胞生理学和进行显微外科手术的程序。已经报道了在广泛的学术和工业应用中旋转细胞的许多方法。其中，最流行的是基于微型机器人的直接接触操纵和基于场的非接触方法（例如，光、磁、电、声和流体动力学方法）。本综述首先总结了这六种主要方法的基本机制、优点和缺点，然后详细讨论了它们的区别和局限性。