As noninvasive tools of high-resolution micromanipulation and force measurement, optical tweezers have been widely applied to researches in life science. Holographic optical tweezers show higher flexibility than the conventional single-trap optical tweezers in producing arbitrarily patterned trap arrays with the help of the spatial light modulator, which has significant potential in application to the biomedical research. In this paper, we review the basic principle of holographic optical tweezers, hologram algorithm, and the progress in the applications of holographic optical tweezers in biological research. We expect that this review will provide a helpful reference to the community that will apply holographic optical tweezers to the biological research.