A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has developed an electronic implant system that could improve lab-grown pancreatic tissue for diabetes therapies. Their findings were published in Science.
The new method uses an ultrathin mesh of conductive wires embedded into developing pancreatic tissue. This mesh allows for electrical stimulation, which helps lab-grown islet cells mature and function more like their natural counterparts. According to Juan Alvarez, PhD, assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Penn, “The words ‘bionic’, ‘cybernetic’, ‘cyborg’, all of those apply to the device we’ve created.” He added, “What we’re doing is like deep stimulation for the pancreas. Just like pacemakers help the heart keep rhythm, controlled electrical pulses can help pancreatic cells develop and function the way they’re supposed to.”
Type 1 diabetes affects about two million Americans, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021. In this condition, immune attacks destroy insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas. Patients with severe cases may need transplants of either a whole pancreas or islet cells alone. However, donor shortages often mean patients wait over a year for these procedures and must take lifelong immunosuppressant drugs afterward.
Lab-grown pancreatic tissue offers potential advantages over traditional transplants because it could be engineered to reduce rejection risks and increase availability. The research teams at Penn and Harvard implanted their fine electrically conductive mesh into pieces of developing pancreatic tissue grown from human stem cells. This setup allowed them to introduce a 24-hour cycle mimicking circadian rhythms—prompting immature cells to mature fully so they could better respond to blood sugar levels.
Alvarez explained that understanding how these cells commit to their specialized roles was crucial: “I like to call it when cells get their PhDs,” he said. “It is when cells stop being undecided undergrads, and commit to their career path of being pancreatic or islet cells.”
By recording cell activity over two months with this stretchable mesh—thinner than a strand of hair—the team learned that exposure to circadian rhythms helped synchronize cellular behavior across clusters known as organoids.
Looking ahead, Alvarez suggested two possible clinical paths: one where lab-grown islet cells are electrically stimulated before transplantation; another where the electronic mesh remains in place after implantation to monitor and stimulate cell activity as needed—possibly using AI systems for real-time control without human intervention. “In the future, we could have a system that runs without human intervention,” Alvarez said.
This study received funding from multiple sources including the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK DP1DK130673; Human Islet Research Network U24DK104162; NIGMS R35GM157320), Breakthrough T1D (IN0-15 2025-1707-A-N), University of Pennsylvania Diabetes Research Center (P30DK19525), JDRF (COE-2020-967-M-N), and the JPB Foundation (award no. 1094).
