Hinterberger Amy, Stelmach Aleksandra
Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
Glob Public Health. 2025 Dec;20(1):2496679. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2025.2496679. Epub 2025 May 6.
Bioengineering technologies are increasingly important in global health research, yet their applications beyond vaccines and diagnostics remain underexplored. Our paper examines the role of organoids - advanced stem cell technologies used to model human organs, such as lungs and brains - in the context of infectious disease research. Organoids became crucial during the Zika and COVID-19 outbreaks. These new model systems enabled rapid insights into pathogen behaviour. We analyse how the urgency of Zika and Covid-19 accelerated organoid research, tracing its rise and subsequent slowdown. Our investigation reveals that while organoid technologies experienced a burst of activity during these emergencies, their momentum has waned, with ongoing research predominantly focusing on diseases prevalent in the Global North. We argue that the uneven acceleration and subsequent deceleration of organoid research underscores a critical need for equitable integration of bioengineering in global health priorities, particularly in the context of pandemic preparedness. Our findings advocate for a balanced and inclusive strategy to enhance pandemic preparedness and address global health disparities effectively.
生物工程技术在全球卫生研究中日益重要，但其在疫苗和诊断之外的应用仍未得到充分探索。我们的论文探讨了类器官——用于模拟人体器官（如肺和脑）的先进干细胞技术——在传染病研究背景下的作用。在寨卡病毒和新冠疫情爆发期间，类器官变得至关重要。这些新的模型系统使人们能够迅速洞察病原体的行为。我们分析了寨卡病毒和新冠疫情的紧迫性如何加速了类器官研究，追溯了其兴起及随后的放缓。我们的调查显示，虽然类器官技术在这些紧急情况期间经历了一阵热潮，但其势头已经减弱，目前的研究主要集中在全球北方流行的疾病上。我们认为，类器官研究不均衡的加速及随后的减速凸显了在全球卫生优先事项中公平整合生物工程的迫切需求，特别是在大流行防范的背景下。我们的研究结果倡导采取平衡和包容性的战略，以加强大流行防范并有效解决全球卫生差距问题。
