Scientists in Korea have created the world’s most advanced bat organoid platform, unlocking a revolutionary new way to detect, study, and fight viruses with pandemic potential—before they jump to humans.
Key Points at a Glance
- Researchers created lab-grown organoids from five bat species and four organs.
- Platform enables direct testing of bat-borne viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and MERS.
- Discovery of two new bat viruses highlights the tool’s unique capabilities.
- Organoids allow safe virus isolation and real-time antiviral drug screening.
- Efforts are underway to turn the platform into a global virus biobank.
For decades, researchers have known that bats are a biological reservoir for some of the world’s deadliest viruses. From SARS and MERS to influenza and hantavirus, the winged mammals carry dozens of pathogens capable of triggering future pandemics. But despite their importance, bats have remained elusive test subjects—until now.
A groundbreaking study led by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Korea has unveiled the world’s most comprehensive bat organoid platform, offering scientists their best-ever look into how viruses behave inside bat bodies. Built from cells harvested from five common bat species and four vital organs—lungs, trachea, kidneys, and small intestine—this library of 3D “mini-organs” marks a turning point in pandemic preparedness.
“Reconstructing bat organ physiology in the lab lets us explore how zoonotic viruses work, in unprecedented detail,” explains KOO Bon-Kyoung, Director of the IBS Center for Genome Engineering. This is no small achievement. Until now, the field relied largely on single-organ samples from one fruit bat species, offering a narrow and incomplete picture. The new multi-species, multi-organ platform shatters those limitations.
The organoids were immediately put to use, and the results were stunning. By infecting them with real viruses—SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, influenza A, and hantavirus—the researchers discovered that viral behavior is far more complex than previously understood. A virus that easily infects the lungs of one bat species may fail to replicate in the kidneys of another. These variations help explain why some viruses remain confined to bats, while others evolve to infect humans.
But this platform goes far beyond basic science. It enables real-time antiviral testing. By adapting the organoids into a two-dimensional format, researchers created a drug screening interface that more closely mimics how these pathogens operate in live bats. In fact, antiviral agents like Remdesivir showed more accurate responses in the organoids than in standard lab-grown human cells.
Even more remarkably, the platform facilitated the isolation of two previously unknown viruses—an orthoreovirus and a paramyxovirus—straight from wild bat feces. One of them couldn’t be grown using traditional lab methods, but flourished in the new bat organoid environment. This alone demonstrates the immense potential of the platform as a virus discovery engine.
“By mimicking the bat’s natural environment, it boosts the accuracy and real-world value of infectious disease research,” says Senior Researcher KIM Hyunjoon. The immune responses observed within different organs and bat species also revealed a key evolutionary puzzle: bats respond to viruses in complex, organ-specific ways that may explain their ability to carry deadly pathogens without falling ill themselves.
But the vision doesn’t end there. The team hopes to scale the organoid system into a global biobank of bat tissues and viral data, forming a cornerstone for future pandemic surveillance efforts. “With these standardized and scalable bat organoids, we aim to systematically identify novel bat-origin viruses and screen antiviral candidates,” says Dr. CHOI Young Ki, Director of the Korea Virus Research Institute.
The goal is not just rapid response—it’s early warning. By building a living archive of bat virology, the world can begin to shift from reacting to pandemics toward preventing them altogether. Health organizations such as the World Health Organization may soon be able to harness this platform to track viral evolution before the next outbreak even begins.
This pioneering approach redefines what’s possible in virology, immunology, and epidemiology. It offers a window into the biology of our planet’s most enigmatic virus carriers and gives us new tools to answer an increasingly urgent question: what’s the next virus to jump from animals to humans—and how do we stop it before it does?
Source: Institute for Basic Science
