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Primafrio joins UCAM to fund Juan Carlos Izpisua's investigations
"The constant support from UCAM is unusual because in our country research is not considered important and that makes me proud of these four years of collaboration."
This is one of the ideas highlighted by Juan Carlos Izpisua, an extraordinary professor of Developmental Biology at UCAM, during the presentation of the project 'Collaboration UCAM-Primafrio: an example of scientific patronage' that took place this afternoon in The Jerónimos Campus.
The international team of researchers headed by Izpisua turns all his talent and dedication to finding a solution to diseases that have hitherto been incurable that have to do with cancer, diabetes, aging or rare diseases (progeria, retinitis pigmentosa, etc.).
In order for these investigations to continue, the Murcia Foundation Primafrio has decided to join its patronage work with the Catholic University of Murcia, an institution that has been supporting Dr. Izpisua's research for years with human resources (researchers) and economic resources.
This initiative is the result of a shared conviction: believing in science as an instrument of help and progress of humanity, and pursues a common goal: to contribute to these advances bear fruit and reach the entire society, including the most vulnerable population.
In the event held at the Los Jerónimos Campus in which the patronage agreement was announced, Juan Carlos Izpisua was accompanied by Josefina García, rector of the Catholic University;
Juan Conesa, president of the Primafrio Foundation;
Isabel Fortea, General Director of Universities of the CARM, Estrella Núñez, Vice Chancellor for Research, as well as executives of the UCAM and Primafrio, representatives of D'Genes, the Hospital de Molina and researchers.
In this sense, the researcher has also commented that "by altering the epigenome we can rejuvenate our organs and therefore delay aging" and has clarified that "in recent years we have realized that as important as the genome is the epigenome. Genome is the book of life with which we come to the world and the epigenome are the punctuation marks that we are writing throughout our existence. "
In the presentation the scientist has apostilled that "diseases inherited from parents to children have a solution."
On the other hand, Josefina García, rector of the Catholic University has affirmed that this collaboration with Primafrio "reinforces the University's commitment to be a pioneer in the areas of health, food and sport".
The rector also stressed that "thanks to the example given today by UCAM and the Primafrio Foundation we will see great progress in the coming years. Thank you for bringing the University closer to the company."
For his part, Juan Conesa, president of the Primafrio Foundation, has been proud to "collaborate with UCAM in this project with Dr. Izpisua and we hope that other companies will follow this path".
Juan Conesa has emphasized that it is "the greatest initiative the Foundation has undertaken".
Isabel Fortea, general director of Research and Innovation of the CARM, stressed that "thanks to the example given today by UCAM and the Primafrio Foundation we will see great progress in the coming years. Thank you for bringing the University closer to the company."
Fortea also highlighted the importance of promoting active patronage in the area of ​​research.
Estrella Núñez, Vice Chancellor for Research at UCAM, highlighted "the collaboration that the Catholic University has been carrying out for four years with Doctor Izpisua".
Núñez thanked Primafrio that "believes in research as an instrument to carry out a sustainable and responsible development of our society" and has apostilled that "this example encourages other entrepreneurs in our Region to carry out actions of this type."
The Vice Chancellor also recalled the great commitment of the Catholic University of Murcia for research, an area in which she invested more than 16 million euros this past year 2018.
In this regard, he also stressed that the results of research projects with Juan Carlos Izpisua have been published by the world's most prestigious scientific journals, such as Cell, Science or Nature (more than 30 articles), as well as by the media Generalists of maximum diffusion worldwide.
UCAM works with Juan Carlos Izpisua in different lines of research
Reverse aging
Use of gene editing techniques to make epigenetic modifications and, without the need to cut DNA, activate genes that have been deactivated by aging, reversing associated diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease or muscular dystrophy.
Organ regeneration
Integrate human iPS cells into pig embryos so that it is the embryo itself that generates a specific organ with the inserted human cells.
The ultimate goal of this project is to get human organs for transplantation.
Tools against rare diseases
Design and improvement of gene editing techniques to repair mutated genes in adult cells, which are not divided, and thus cure diseases caused by genetic alterations, such as retinitis pigmentosa or progeria.
Healing of multiple sclerosis
Obtaining specific iPS cells from each patient helps to understand the mechanisms underlying the development of the disease, as well as opens up the possibility of testing drugs and compounds that may be specific for each patient.
Muscle regeneration
The UCAM and the Spanish Olympic Committee promote the investigation of the use of cell reprogramming techniques to cure musculoskeletal diseases or injuries both in athletes and in people in general.
Source: UCAM
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