Organoids derived from bats have been used to understand bat-borne viruses and diseases, in a study from Japan.
Bats can carry viruses that cause serious infectious diseases in humans, including Covid-19, Ebola and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), without being affected themselves.
Researchers at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) collected lung tissue from fruit bats at the capital’s Ueno Zoo to create 3D organoids that mimicked the structure and biological activity of bat lungs.
According to the researchers, bat lung organoids (BLOs) hold promise for studying the biology of infectious diseases derived from bats.
The study also demonstrated how the organoids could evaluate susceptibility to the bat-borne virus Pteropine orthoreovirus, which has been linked to respiratory infections in people.
BLOs could also be used to test potential treatments and devise new therapeutic strategies, which holds potential for new insights into both human and animal health.