Methods for obtaining genetic material from plant embryos while preserving their viability as well as methods for performing a molecular analysis of plant embryos, particularly with small quantities of genetic material by collecting shed cellular material from one or more plant embryos; obtaining DNA from the shed cellular material; performing a molecular analysis of the DNA; and germinating at least one of the one or more plant embryos. A further extension includes determining whether to germinate and grow the embryo or to discard the embryo based on its genotype as part of a breeding process. Also provided are methods of genotyping embryos using embryo shed cellular material contained in or on agar and methods of analyzing plant embryonic tissue derived from microspores.