Respiratory Infection Research

Simulation of infections in human precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) to test the efficacy of drugs

Due to the institute’s proximity to the Hannover Medical School, researchers at Fraunhofer ITEM in Hannover have the opportunity to work directly with human lung tissue from operated patients, to extract living lung slices and cultivate these in the laboratory. These "mini-lung pieces" are used to simulate infections, to investigate interactions of the pathogens with human tissue and thus to test the efficacy of new drugs.