Optical microresonators1 which confine light within a small cavity are widely exploited for various applications ranging from the realization of lasers2 and nonlinear devices3, 4, 5 to biochemical and optomechanical sensing6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Here we employ microresonators and suitable optical gain materials inside biological cells to demonstrate various optical functions in vitro including las...