  The nonequilibrium activity taking place in a living cell can be monitored
with a tracer embedded in the medium. While microrheology experiments based on
optical manipulation of such probes have become increasingly standard, we put
forward a number of experiments with alternative protocols that, we claim, will
provide new insight into the energetics of active fluctuations. These are based
on either performing thermodynamic--like cycles in control-parameter space, or
on determining response to external perturbations of the confining trap beyond
simple translation. We illustrate our proposals on an active itinerant Brownian
oscillator modeling the dynamics of a probe embedded in a living medium.
