Avian Lung

Ella Stasko

Last edited: 06.26.2024

This year, Noah is spearheading the revival of an exciting Weiss Lab endeavor last seen in 2018, the Avian Lung Project. This project was first created to find alternatives to traditional lung transplantation. Currently, this is the only treatment available for end stage respiratory diseases which is highly limited by a shortage of available doner lungs, and a lack of suitable long-term lung assist devices for patients on the waiting list. This prompted the Weiss Lab to further research alternative, long term care options.

The complexities of lung function (ultrathin blood-gas barrier, immunologic defenses, cyclic physical deformations etc.)  present a particularly difficult ex vivo bioengineering challenge. Engineered organs may not be as functional as native ones, however the process of decellularization and recellularization process may damage underlying structures. Thus, the Weiss Lab has been interested in novel approaches for lung assist devices and implantable gas exchange units. This has led us to the avian lung.

But why avian lungs?

 Simply, avian lungs are more efficient. Mammalian lungs inflate and deflate with each breath causing significant dead space. Gas exchange only occurs in alveoli located at the bottom of the respiratory tree; this leaves all air in preceding structures unused. Alternatively, avian lungs are static. Inhaled air is taken into several sacks and pumped continuously throughout the lungs resulting in minimal to no dead space.

In this project we are looking into possibility that avian lungs may serve as efficient scaffolds and be engineered for the development of lung assist devices. To do this, promising preliminary research has been conducted to determine whether avian lungs can be decellularized and recellularized with different human lung cell types. Noah is looking to further verify this work and create more effective bioreactor systems. Stay tuned!