With the advent of COVID-19 as a pandemic, researchers and medical communities have taken up the quest to answer many questions. The science of the 21st century is seen to rely more on genetically modified animal models and cell lines for understanding the virus-host interactions and pathogenesis. This has put a shadow on basic yet effective conventional ways of conducting autopsy studies, collecting tissue samples, and examining them under a microscope. In this very moment of crisis, researchers are advised to study the disease in its natural micro-environment. Though newer advances in science and technology can help us in constructing the road ahead but that road can tread us to blind ends, without the guiding vision provided by a pathological autopsy. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.