Project to fight lumbar pain by i3S awarded by Eurospine

The project "Repurposing CRISPR for disc regeneration" of the Health Research and Innovation Institute of the University of Porto - i3S, was awarded 25 thousand euros by Eurospine.

This project is developed in the context of lumbar pain, and it is headed by Joana Caldeira, lead researcher of the "Microenvironments for New Therapies" Group.

The goal is to "adapt a gene technology edition (CRISPR-Cas9) to disc regeneration", the lead researcher declared, on a statement to Lusa Agency.

As Joana Caldeira highlights, "though lumbar pain is not deadly, it is the main cause for handicap or disability in Portugal. "For this reason, this project has a tremendous impact both at social and economic level", the researcher concluded.

Already in 2017, i3S received a prize by Eurospine.