A system and method for harvesting, storing, and implanting biological units,in particular hair follicular units (FUs). The system is particularly usefulto facilitate hair transplant procedures. FUs are harvested from a body surface,either attached to a patient or in a strip of removed tissue, and shuttled intoa cartridge having a plurality of receptacles. The receptacles are open in a distaldirection toward a removal tool, but a cover over the proximal ends of the receptaclesprevents the FUs from continuing out of the cartridge. The cover is made of a permissiblemedium, which may be fluid permeable and/or puncturable. One way to shuttle theFUs is to provide a pressure differential, such as by applying suction to the proximalend of a receptacle. The shuttle subsystem may be incorporated within an overallautomated or robotic system, or the shuttle subsystem may form part of a semi-automatedor even manual apparatus.
