A photocleavable polymer comprising a photocleavable linker and a polymer having a functional group that binds to a protein, lipid, sugar of a cell, or any combination thereof, as well as a method of selectively lysing cells by incubating a sample comprising two or more cells with the photocleavable polymer to reversibly fix the cells; selectively irradiating the fixed cells or a target or non-target cell among the fixed cells to cleave the photocleavable polymer; and adding a cell lysis solution to selectively lyse the irradiated cells.