Imagine never having to inject yourself again. That is what a team from Technion, the technological institute that worked alongside MIT, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Massachusetts, is pursuing.
They created an implant made of modified living cells that does three things that once seemed like science fiction: it measures blood glucose in real time, produces its own insulin, and releases the exact dose the body needs, without pumps or syringes getting in the way. The researchers themselves call it an integrated pharmacy that works on its own.
The obstacle that derailed similar attempts for years was the immune system, which attacked and destroyed these implants. Now the scientists have designed a crystalline shield that protects the cells and keeps them active for years. It has already worked in mice and primates, and the study, published in Science Translational Medicine, opens the door to something bigger: adapting the same platform to treat other chronic diseases, such as hemophilia, before moving on to human trials.
