Figure 3.

Applications of stem cell technology and organoids for in vitro modelling of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease: Human cells grown as monolayers or organoids, which recapitulate the different cell types in tissues and organs, can be used to investigate cell-type-specific permissiveness to SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication. Cells and organoids can be grown in co-culture with immune cells to investigate the role of host immune and inflammatory response in disease pathogenesis. By using different SARS-CoV-2 genome variants, in vitro systems can be used to compare viral infection and replication efficiency and cytopathic effects. Finally, in vitro cell systems can be generated from patient-specific cells or genetically-modified cells to model individual genetic susceptibility to severe disease.