SARS-CoV-2 Disrupts the Immune Response in Intestinal Organoids April 27, 2021 The researchers were able to monitor the virus's growth in organoids derived from human intestinal cells. Pink and red show areas of SARS-CoV-2 infection. [Mohammed Shahraz, Sergio Triana/EMBL; Camila Metz-Zumaran/Heidelberg University] Share The respiratory tract is given much attention when studying SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, COVID-19 patients show systemic manifestation of the disease in multiple organs. There is clear evidence, for example, of SARS-CoV-2 replication in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In an effort to determine the potential for COVID-19 to begin in a person’s gut, and to better understand how human cells respond to SARS-CoV-2, researchers used human intestinal cells to create organoids—3D tissue cultures derived from human cells—which mimic the tissue or organ from which the cells originate. Their single-cell analysis data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection can be harbored in a host’s intestines and reveal intricacies in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2.