Respiratory Disease Breakthrough: Korean Researchers Create Artificial Lungs for Virus Research - Health

Respiratory diseases have been at the forefront of medical research due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic , which has claimed nearly 7.1 million lives globally . Scientists and medical professionals worldwide are working tirelessly to understand the virus , its transmission pathways , and effective treatments to combat it . The urgent need to develop vaccines and treatments has prompted calls for countries like Korea to expedite their drug development efforts to match those of developed nations . Recently , a team of Korean researchers has made a breakthrough in respiratory disease research that is garnering attention and could revolutionize the field.

 The research team , led by Professor Sungjune Jung and PhD student Yunji Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at POSTECH , in collaboration with Dr. Meehyein Kim and Dr. Myoung Kyu Lee from the Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology ( KRICT ) , has successfully created artificial lungs . This innovative approach is designed to study infections and test drugs for respiratory diseases , including COVID-19 . Their research has been published in the online edition of Biomaterials , an esteemed international journal in the field of biomaterials.

Developing a new drug typically takes 10 to 15 years and costs over 1 trillion won on average . The lengthy and expensive process is mainly due to existing research platforms like 2D cell cultures and animal experiments , which fail to accurately replicate the in vivo environment . To address this challenge , models that closely mimic the human body are crucial to reduce development time , costs , and increase the success rate of drug development efforts . In their study , researchers from POSTECH and KRICT utilized three - dimensional ( 3D ) bioprinting technology to create a " 3D artificial lung , " which can replicate the human lung 's structure and function.

The " 3D artificial lung " consists of three layers — vascular endothelium , extracellular matrix , and epithelium — similar to the human respiratory tract . This model closely resembles the structure and function of the human lung , making it susceptible to infection , even at very low doses . The researchers ' model lasted 21 days , allowing them to observe infection - induced cell lesions , barrier degradation , changes in gene expression affecting the infection pathway , viral proliferation , and the host immune response , consistent with real - world COVID-19 patient data.

Furthermore , the team successfully recreated the pathways by which COVID-19 drugs reach the infected epithelial layer and inhibit virus replication using their artificial lung model . This approach allowed the researchers to accurately verify the effectiveness of treatments , determine appropriate dosages , and identify potential side effects . With the likelihood of respiratory viruses similar to COVID-19 emerging in the next decade , this research not only shortens the drug development process but also aids in developing therapeutic drugs for COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases , according to Professor Sungjune Jung and Dr. Meehyein Kim.