Human lung epithelium model being tested as a platform for Covid-19 research ▫️The developers of the Lung epithelium model plan to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 can infect and replicate in the model to assess whether it could be used in the fight against Covid-19. ▫️A biotech company has announced they are testing whether their human lung epithelium model could be used as a platform for investigating SARS-CoV-2 infection and developing and evaluating potential antiviral strategies for Covid-19. ▫️Newcells Biotech based their lung epithelium organoid on human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and have been developing the model for two years. - The model contains basal epithelia, ciliated and secretory cells (goblet and club cells) organised in a stratified epithelium. - The company stated it has already confirmed it expresses the mRNA for the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE2) which SARS-CoV, the Corona-virus causing Covid-19, uses to infect cells. - It is currently determining whether ACE2 is present on the surface of cells in the model. ▫️According to Newcells, before the Covid-19 pandemic it had been developing a hiPSC-derived model of the upper airway for toxicology testing of environmental pollutants. - This model has been shown to respond to airborne particles with cytokine responses and changes in gene expression.