Laboratory-grown lungs simulate coronavirus infection

Previous reports have suggested that the lungs are the part of the respiratory system most severely impacted by COVID-19 infection. In Boston, scientists at the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory have artificially created a lab-grown replica of the air passages and air sacs within the lung to investigate how COVID-19 infection wreaks havoc on the body.

The laboratory-grown lung models help scientists observe and learn how coronavirus attacks lung tissue without having to dissect or biopsy the lungs of people who have been sick with COVID-19.

According to Adam Hume, senior research scientist at NEIDL, “With this model, we are able to get a better idea of what is going on in the lungs, which are the primary targets of infection.”

Hume said lab-grown organoids — groups of cells that mimic structures within organs — are an especially effective experimental model because of how similar they are to the actual cells in the human body.

To make lung organiods, Hume and his colleagues have collaborated with researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Boston, which has artificially engineered other organs, such as intestines and brains.