Felipe Cortés with part of his team at CNIO. /Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO
This funding is intended to prepare CRISPR-Cas technology to reach the market, and to provide the basis for rapid and reliable genetic testing available to users.
The project is one of the 29 selected among more than 400 applications
“La Caixa” Foundation has published the resolution for the 2024 CaixaImpulse Innovation call, which supports 29 new biomedical projects from research centers, hospitals and universities in Spain and Portugal. The foundation will allocate a total of 3.4 million euros to this program, aimed to accelerate these innovations arrival to the market and thus bring them closer to the patients who may need them. Likewise, CaixaImpulse Innovation encourages the creation of new products, services and companies related to life sciences and health.
The winning projects – out of more than 400 applications received – have been evaluated by six panels of international experts and professionals in this field. Felipe Cortés, chief of the Topology and DNA breaks Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), leads one of these projects, which has been awarded 150.000€.
Pioneering CRISPR-Cas-based method for rapid self-diagnosis testing
The CRISPR-Cas gene editor has the ability to act as a kind of programmable molecular “detective” that can be activated when it encounters pathogenic genetic material or specific DNA mutations. This gives it enormous potential in biomedicine for diagnostics. However, it has a major limitation: it requires large amounts of genetic material to function, more than is usually obtained with samples from nasal or oral swabs. This makes it unsuitable for use in self-diagnosis or rapid diagnosis tests.
To overcome this obstacle, the researchers in this project have developed a pioneering method that, instead of pre-amplifying the genetic material (a procedure that must be carried out in the laboratory), triggers a CRISPR-Cas chain reaction, similar to how the well-known PCR works. This opens the door to its possible implementation as a universal rapid self-diagnosis platform. Additionally, this method, called ECR (pronounced easier), enhances the sensitivity of the test, as it is capable of detecting minute amounts of the sequences of interest.
The project aims to transfer this new methodology to the market, which would pave the way for turning CRISPR-Cas systems into rapid self-diagnosis platforms that provide users with instant and reliable genetic information.
Training and expert support for projects
CaixaImpulse Innovación supports biomedical projects in the field of innovation and transfer by helping researchers validate their assets and define their exploitation and valorization strategy to bring the projects closer to the market, so, in addition to economic support, they will also obtain mentoring, consulting and support services by international experts in different areas of the innovation ecosystem.
According to Ignasi López, director of the Area of Partnerships with Research and Health Institutions at “la Caixa” Foundation: “The result of this call reflects not only the abundance, but also the exceptional quality of the innovation projects in biomedicine and health in Spain and Portugal. We are proud to be able to support them, offering both the necessary financial aid and the tools for them to reach the market with strength and security”.