The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted our lives, claiming nearly 7.1 million lives globally. Scientists and medical professionals have been working tirelessly to understand the virus, its transmission pathways, and effective treatments.
The urgency of developing vaccines and treatments has never been greater, prompting calls for Korea to expedite its drug development efforts to match those of developed countries. Recently, a team of Korean researchers has made a breakthrough that will greatly enhance the efficiency of respiratory disease research, garnering attention. The research team, consisting of 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. These artificial lungs are 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. On average, developing a new drug takes 10 to 15 years and costs over 1 trillion won. This lengthy and expensive process is largely due to existing research platforms, such as 2D cell cultures and animal experiments, which fail to accurately replicate the in vivo environment.
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