Cellular metabolism is a reliable indicator of disease onset and frequently used in the clinic (e.g., metabolomics can assist in the detection and therapy stratification of infection and cancer patients). The metabolic patterns of cells belonging to different taxa (e.g., prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells) or with altered energetic demands (e.g., cancer vs healthy cells, due to the Warburg effect) are unique; however, light-controlled ablation of cells on the basis of differential or altered metabolism has been negated by the lack of photosensitive chemical structures that retain the properties of native metabolites.