UNC´s Innovative Development to Treat Genetic Diseases has been Selected for an Acceleration Program

Researchers from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences (FCQ) at UNC have been selected to participate in a GridX acceleration program .They presented a proposal to treat genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, crystal skin and hemophilia by using nanotechnology.

Cecilia Vasti and Laura Valenti, researchers from the UNC Faculty of Chemical Sciences, presented to GridX a proposal called: “NanoTransfer”, which consists in the design and production of nano-particles that would facilitate the treatment of genetic diseases.

With the objective of boosting and accelerating the development of genic therapy, the aforementioned researchers designed efficient and low cost transfection agents in the form of nano-particles that act as a nano-vehicle to carry genes to the interior of a determined type of cell. This development enables synthesis, in a simple and economical way, without the requirement of either complex equipment or expensive or extensive processes.

The researchers assure that this therapy means a significant leap in the biotechnology market and in the treatment of genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, crystal skin and hemophilia.

The team who is developing this therapy is mainly composed of women who have been working in different research disciplines and with a vast background in the field of nano-technologies.

The proposal presented by Valenti and Vasti is one of the 20 options selected by GridX to participate in the “Ignite” stage. In this stage, they will be obtaining training in the areas of science and business for three months, as well as meeting entrepreneurs with the objective of maximizing their chances of success in the creation of a technologically based company.

Team of Researchers

The team that participates in the acceleration program is composed by researchers from INFIQC (Córdoba Research Institute of Physical Chemistry- CONICET-UNC), from the Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences (UNC): Doctors Carla Giacomelli , Ricardo Rojas, Laura Valenti and Cecilia Vasti

What is GridX and how the acceleration process works

GridX is an Insud Group accelerator unit founded by Matias Peire in 2017. Its model for builiding biotechnological companies consists of four stages: the first one refers to the scientific system exploration, during which they go all over the country with the objective of detecting biotechnological projects. The second stage caters for the selection of researchers and entrepreneurs; the third one deals with the creation of the startup, and the final stage is the one that focuses on the companies’ acceleration processes.

Last year, the National University of Córdoba organized, through the Office of Science, Technology and Innovation´s Knowledge Enhancement Program (Secyt-UNC), an event to foster the link of these researchers working in the biotechnological area with this accelerator unit.