About OrganoVIR Labs

Transforming the virology landscape and establishing human organoids as superior models for virus research.

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About  us.

OrganoVIR Labs, based in Amsterdam University Medical Centers (location Academic Medical Center (AMC)), is an expert laboratory on virus culture and human 2D and 3D ‘organoid cultures’ for virology.

An ‘organoid’ is a miniature and simplified version of a human organ. An organoid contains the DNA of its donor, which means that it carries the personal characteristics of that donor (such as genetic make-up, age, gender, etc.). This makes them the ideal model to study viral infections in a human context.

Within our labs, we use organoids to culture human picornaviruses, CMV, and recently SARS-CoV-2.
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Our vision.

Currently, there are not enough suitable experimental models to study human viral infections. Animal models or conventional 2-dimensional (2D) cell cultures do not accurately translate to human infections. However, data collected from our labs have shown that results obtained with human organoid models translate well to human diseases. This is because infections of human organoid cultures provide more accurate information of how viruses infect human cells.

By combining expertise in the fields of virology, organoid technology, immunology, and tissue engineering, we aim to continuously improve organoid models for virology research.
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Our purpose.

Our passion lies in discovering new ways to build a future for virology, one with more accurate human models which leads to less animal research. At OrganoVIR Labs, we work with human airway epithelium cultures, intestinal epithelium cultures, gut organoids and brain organoids.
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Target audience.

Our target audience includes, but is not limited to;

  • Virologists, immunologists and tissue engineers
  • Scientists interested in learning about organoid models and the possibilities of implementing organoids as human disease models in their research
  • Non-scientists (people outside of the science and technology industry) who are interested in organoid technologies, animal free innovations and virology