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Almost everyone has blown a soap bubble through a straw at least once. Inspired by this thin soap bubble film, an “artificial lung that breathes” like a real lung has been developed. A research team led by Professor Sungjune Jung of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has developed an ultrathin artificial lung that reproduces the movement of the alveoli, the air sacs inside the lung, while also making it possible to observe the responses of lung cells. This artificial lung operated stably through approximately 240,000 breaths and also reproduced the lung’s response to influenza virus. The study was published on 30 July 2026 (local time) in Advanced Materials, one of the most prestigious journals in materials science
The human lung moves tens of thousands of times a day. When we inhale, the lung expands; when we exhale, it contracts again. The alveoli, the small air sacs inside the lung, repeat this motion as well. The motion of the alveoli does not stop at simply exchanging air. It affects the growth and function of lung cells, and it serves as an important signal in the process by which inflammation and disease progress. To uncover the causes of lung disease and to confirm the efficacy of therapeutics, this motion must also be reproduced in the laboratory.
