One technique known as organ on a chip constructs the facsimile of a human lung onto which the virus is placed, he said.
“We’ll be able to look inside different organs and blood vessels, to see what immunity and pathogens are doing,” he said.
“Microscopic imaging and visualizing the virus allows the cells to glow so we know which ones are being infected.
“It’s a game-changer.”
One mystery the team of eight is hoping to unlock, said Kubes, is one that goes beyond the novel coronavirus’s impact on the lungs.
“People are dying from stroke, so what does that mean?” he said. “Is the virus entering the bloodstream? That’s what we’re looking at.”
With the timeline for the public introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine still uncertain, a big focus for the lab will be on discovering treatments for those made critically ill by the disease, said Kubes.
“People who end up in critical care need something now, to be saved … we think it’s really important to find something as quickly as possible.”
Even so, the lab will also be involved in studying the merits of vaccine candidates with a number of them lined up, said Kubes, adding, “we’re going to let as many people use it as possible.”
Source: – Calgary Herald
