Laboratory-grown miniature lungs to combat "Covid-19"
The move allowed scientists to monitor the raging conflict between the "Covid-19" virus and lung cells.
From the source
A team of researchers from Duke University has developed a living, laboratory-grown lung model that looks like the lung sacs targeted by the "Covid-19" virus and other diseases.
This step allowed scientists to monitor the raging conflict between the "Covid-19" virus and lung cells at the smallest molecular level, as the virus wreaks havoc on the air sacs known as vesicles, causing pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is the first cause of death from the disease.
Scientists are working on research to understand the disease and discover the best ways to treat it, but what hinders their rapid progress is the scarcity of experimental models similar to the human lung tissue.
That's why a team from Duke University, led by cell biologist Purushotthama Rao Tata, developed an experimental model of laboratory-grown miniature lungs.
These lungs are grown from type II squamous cells that represent the stem cells that drive repair processes in the deepest parts of the lung, where the virus attacks.
Research has shown that one of these vesicular squamous cells divides to produce millions of cells that take the form of air bubbles that resemble alveoli, but the laboratory fluid feeding these cells contains complex components such as incomplete bovine serum.
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