Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, in collaboration with MIT, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Massachusetts, have developed a self-regulating, implantable “living” technology that could one day eliminate the need for daily insulin injections in people with diabetes.

Led by Assistant Professor Shady Farah of the Technion’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering, the study presents a cell-based implant that functions as an autonomous artificial pancreas. Once implanted, the system continuously senses blood-glucose levels, produces insulin within the implant, and releases precisely the amount needed—without external pumps, injections, or patient intervention.

A key innovation is a novel “crystalline shield” that protects the implant from immune rejection, allowing it to function reliably for years. The technology has demonstrated effective glucose regulation in mice and long-term cell viability in non-human primates.

Beyond diabetes, the platform may be adapted for treating other chronic conditions requiring continuous delivery of biological therapeutics, potentially transforming long-term disease management.

Researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed deepBlastoid, the first deep-learning platform specifically designed for the high-throughput, automated classification of human stem cell-derived embryo models (blastoids). By leveraging a ResNet-18 architecture and a novel Confidence Rate metric, the model achieves up to 97% accuracy and processes images 1,000 times faster than human experts. This tool facilitates large-scale drug screening and basic research into early human development by providing a standardized, objective evaluation framework.