Tamara Rubilar is an exact example of a circle”virtuous” that the Argentine science authorities have been trying to instill in the scientific world for at least a decade, but without much success, with a handful of exceptions. She is a researcher Conicet who spent many years studying the biology of Patagonian starfish. But, in 2017, faced with a family health need, she had an inspiring idea that led her to abruptly change her line of research. In the course of this lustrum she managed to fine-tune innovative sea urchin farming techniques and with this development they were able to generate a series of biotechnological products, of marine origin, that can be consumed in the form of nutritional supplements and that They provide proven healthy properties. These preparations have an effect antioxidant and they are capable of both reducing cellular inflammation and modulating the immune system of people. To complete the virtuous circle, and not content with just transferring his experimental findings, Rubilar proposed his idea to a fishing company that was encouraged to associate with Conicet to finance the undertaking and thus develop a new line of products “nutraceuticals“.
Soon after, with a group of colleagues, he founded “EriSea“, a technology-based company that operates in Puerto Madryn and is about to launch its first products on the market. The brand new startup uses unfertilized sea urchin eggs as raw material, a species practically unexploited in Argentina. And, in keeping with the times, his enterprise follows an original and unusual philosophy in the business world: strictly respect the well-being of each animal and only manufacture the preparations in a sustainable format.
A stranger. “Although in Argentina it is not a well-known dish nor is it considered for commercial fishing, in the world the sea urchin is an animal marketed by the gastronomic industry. In fact, in some regions it is consumed in high quantities,” he told him. a NEWS Dr. Tamara Rubilar. And he added, “in nations like Spain, Japan or Chile it is highly sought after to the point that in some regions there are institutions that are dedicated to raising juvenile specimens in captivity and then releasing them and repopulating some areas that are already overexploited.”
In the case of Argentina, the use of the hedgehog will be very different: used in a sustainable way, without affecting wild specimens and with each animal treated and cared for – throughout its life – under ethical canons. And this innovative format was born thanks to a personal need, a series of coincidences and the convictions of a biologist.
“My second son,” Rubilar said, “was born in 2012 with several health problems. He had low levels of white blood cells and severe allergies to various foods. The treatment that the doctors prescribed included the use of corticosteroids”. Of course, long-term use of these drugs is not innocuous and affects the development of the children. “With my husband not we could make do, so in my spare time I began to read bibliography and contact immunologists looking for what else we could do”.
Around the same time, Rubilar’s professional background had been consolidated by his years of work studying echinoderms, a phylum (group) of animals that includes sea urchins, stars, and sea cucumbers. “The year he was born I worked with colleagues to develop a balanced food that could be used in aquaculture to better farm sea urchins”.
After a thousand talks with colleagues, analyzing papers and talking to doctors, they considered that for their son to improve his quality of life they had to achieve “decrease“cellular inflammation and modulate your immune system. “Medical literature often recommends the use of antioxidant compounds present in fruits such as blueberry or the maqui, but my son did not tolerate them. And then we began to investigate other antioxidant molecules but of marine origin, which could be obtained from compounds produced by the metabolism of sea urchins whose unfertilized eggs contain molecules known as spinochromes, which provide polyphenols with antioxidant effects. “Specifically, these compounds were obtained from hedgehogs, how fair was the animal with which I worked daily in my laboratory!” Rubilar commented.
What followed was detective work that involved contacting a group of Russian scientists, who, from their institute in Siberia, had discovered, classified and used those same molecules to develop an injectable cardiology drug with anti-inflammatory effects and used in Germany to treat heart disease.
Rubilar focused on analyzing the unfertilized eggs of the hedgehogs in his laboratory and found that they were full of “healthy” spinachromas. So while they studied them in detail, he began to give his son home-made preparations made from that element “knowing, of course, that it was something safe and harmless since they are foods that are regularly consumed in other countries.”
What happened? What that natural treatment generated positive effects, decreasing inflammation and modulating allergic reactions in such a way that they could go down the dose of corticosteroids that was regularly prescribed until it was completely discontinued and he only continued taking immunoglobulins.
We strictly respect the welfare of each animal and we only manufacture our preparations in a sustainable way.
“Beyond the fact that our case may be anecdotal, the whole situation led us to think that it was important to better explore the therapeutic possibilities of these derivatives. That is why we continued studying them, first in our spare time, until finally the line of work changed and our laboratory that works in the CENPAT of the Conicet specialized in this subject”, recalled the scientist.
In 2017, before a call for entrepreneurship, Rubilar outlined his ideas and findings on the medicinal and economic value that these metabolites could provide. And so it began to incubate a startupwhich was finally established with the financial support of a fishing company in Puerto Madryn and the know-how of experts from various disciplines who saw the opportunity to venture into a new business.
“This is how we arm”Promarine Antioxidans“Which today is already making three different products based on the spinochromes obtained from our hedgehogs, and in a few more weeks we will launch several formulations on the market,” said the expert.
Bioethics
But this venture decided to work in an unusual way for a commercial company: the startup operates under strict ethical standards of animal welfare, an issue in which Rubilar is also a reference and author of numerous scientific publications. “Our idea it is not fishing and workr but work with about 2000 hedgehogs in captivity. From that plant we extract the raw material, properly and ethically, in which it is the first sea urchin aquaculture pilot plant in Latin America. Of course, these specimens are not sacrificed but live in appropriate tanks, at the ideal temperature and receive food and care. “We know that hedgehogs have social behaviors and that they get stressed in various situations. That is why we put together a work protocol that takes care of their well-being,” said the Conicet researcher. In addition, they developed and patented an innocuous biotechnological process that manages to cause their hedgehogs to release their eggs and produce up to 500 times more spinochromes than their equivalents in the open sea. In this way they achieve a much higher yield of raw material, but always ensuring animal welfare and without having to resort to solvents or polluting chemicals.
be able to add these marine polyphenols to the daily diet would be, according to the scientist, an important contribution to health. “Our dietary supplements can help counteract some of the harmful effects of regularly eating a high amount of ultra-processed foods,” she concluded.
antioxidant products
The company will be launching 3 products: one is combined with algae extracts -which they also grow in their production plant- and its effect is to reduce cellular inflammation and provide molecules of the vitamin B complex and folic acid. Another product is equivalent to the nutraceutical made in Russia. It has antioxidant effects and helps control cholesterol and glucose. The usefulness of this preparation is already being tested in randomized double-blind trials, which were financed with a subsidy from the Ministry of Science to analyze its effects on the evolution of 100 patients from hospitals such as Santojanni and Muñiz. The objective is to specify its therapeutic effects in people with sequelae of Covid-19 (they are still adding candidates from the mail: [email protected]). The latter is a supplement that provides omega 3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) and phospholipids and its properties are similar to Krill oil that stimulates the functioning of the cerebro-vascular system.
Enrique Garabetian
Twitter: @egarabet
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