In the Bud

Our lungs and airways are the first tissues exposed to air-borne pathogens, so understanding how infection proceeds in these tissues is critical. To that end, researchers have developed techniques to induce human embryonic stem cells to form lung buds (pictured), structures closely resembling those that give rise to our lungs during early development. These lab-grown miniature developing lungs possess key lung features and are genetically identical, allowing researchers to study infections in a realistic context yet without all the variation you would see in a real population. Initial work on the virus responsible for COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 (in pink), has already revealed key signalling pathways, and differences in susceptibility to infection between airway cells and alveolar cells, those lining the air sacs deeper inside the lungs. In future, these lung buds could help study a wide range of respiratory infections, and provide tools to identify and test potential treatments.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image from work by E.A. Rosado-Olivieri and B. Razooky, and colleagues
• Laboratory of Synthetic Embryology, the Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Stem Cell Reports, May 2023