Without that knowledge, we would never have been able to create Erisea.
In the coastal laboratories and kitchen experiments of Patagonia, a marine biologist named Tamara Rubilar followed a thread of scientific curiosity that began with sea urchin feeding habits and ended, improbably, with her son's survival. Her years of seemingly abstract research into Arbacia dufresnii led her to Echinochrome A, a potent anti-inflammatory compound that transformed her gravely ill child's prognosis and eventually became the foundation of Erisea, a biotech company now serving thousands of patients worldwide. Her story is a quiet argument for the long patience of basic science — and for the strange mercy of following what you love before you know why.
- A child born in 2012 with a rare autoimmune disease could not eat, could not go to school, and faced a future that many children with his condition never reached.
- His mother, a CONICET researcher, refused to accept the limits of conventional treatment and turned her own scientific archive into a search for something better.
- A photographed paper in Russian, a bilingual grandmother, and a Brazilian colleague's offhand remark formed an unlikely chain that pointed directly to the sea urchins Rubilar had spent years studying.
- Her husband drank the experimental extract first; three months after their eighteen-month-old son began taking it, the bleeding stopped and the corticosteroids became unnecessary.
- Promarine has grown 1,400 percent since 2023, exports to the United States and Spain, and holds a 65 percent customer repurchase rate — numbers that suggest the science is holding up beyond one family's miracle.
Tamara Rubilar left Buenos Aires at nineteen to study marine biology in Patagonia, the only place in Argentina where such training existed. She married a diver, joined CONICET, and spent years researching the behavior and biology of sea urchins — work that seemed, to many, disconnected from any urgent human need.
In 2012, her second son was born with a rare autoimmune disease. His intestines bled. He could not absorb nutrients or attend school, and the corticosteroids required to manage his condition were slowly damaging his developing body. Rubilar, trained to look for answers in data, turned to her research.
The breakthrough came through an improbable chain: a Brazilian colleague had photographed a Russian scientist's congress paper describing a molecule with extraordinary anti-inflammatory properties. The paper was in Russian, but Rubilar's mother — descended from Russian immigrants — could read it. The molecule was called Echinochrome A. It came from sea urchins.
Rubilar contacted the Russian researchers and confirmed that the Patagonian species she knew intimately, Arbacia dufresnii, contained high concentrations of the same bioactive pigments. Her husband collected specimens. She made extracts at home. He tested them on himself first. Then they gave the preparation to their eighteen-month-old son.
The improvement was not instant, but after three months it was undeniable. The bleeding stopped. The inflammation receded. He eventually came off corticosteroids entirely. Rubilar and her husband founded Erisea — marketed as Promarine — with investors from the local fishing industry, built on sustainable aquaculture, and secured an exclusive CONICET biotechnology license.
Since 2023, sales have grown 1,400 percent. The supplements are now sold in Argentine pharmacies and exported to the United States and Spain, with applications being explored for long Covid, fibromyalgia, and neurodegenerative disease. Sixty-five percent of customers return for more.
Her son is thirteen now. He plays rugby. He takes the extract daily — the commercial version, tasteless — and shows no outward sign of what he once endured. Rubilar, now pursuing an MBA alongside her role as CTO, reflects that the years spent cataloguing how sea urchins eat and reproduce were never wasted. They were, it turned out, the foundation of everything that followed.
Tamara Rubilar was nineteen when she left Buenos Aires for Puerto Madryn, a coastal city in Patagonia, to study marine biology—the only place in Argentina at the time where such specialization existed. She built her life around the sea. She married a diver, had children, and eventually settled into work as a researcher at CONICET, Argentina's national scientific council, where she spent years documenting the eating habits, reproduction cycles, and behavior of sea urchins. She was searching for omega-3 fatty acids in the creatures. She had no idea this work would one day save her son's life.
In 2012, her second son was born with a rare autoimmune disease that turned his body against itself. His immune system attacked his own tissues while simultaneously failing to defend him from external threats. His intestines became so inflamed they bled. He could not absorb nutrients. He could not attend school. He could not play. His family had to maintain an almost sterile environment around him, and the prognosis was grim—many children with his condition did not survive to adulthood. The disease required lifelong corticosteroids, drugs that damaged bones, teeth, and organ development. Rubilar, a scientist, turned to her research for answers.
She learned that antioxidants could strengthen cells and improve immune function. Then came a stroke of improbable luck. A Brazilian colleague mentioned that a Russian scientist had presented a paper at a medical congress describing a molecule with extraordinary antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The colleague photographed the paper—this was before online document sharing—and sent the images to Rubilar. The paper was in Russian, a language she could not read. But her grandparents were Russian immigrants. Her mother spoke the language. When Rubilar asked her mother where this molecule, called Echinochrome A, came from, the answer arrived like a gift: from sea urchins. The very creatures she had been studying for years.
Rubilar contacted the Russian researchers and began investigating whether similar compounds existed in the Patagonian sea urchin species she knew intimately. They did. She and her collaborators discovered that the eggs of Arbacia dufresnii contained high concentrations of bioactive pigments capable of reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. Her husband, the diver, collected sea urchins. She made experimental extracts at home, blending the eggs into a juice. Her husband drank it first, as a safety test. Then she tried it. The taste was poor, but it seemed safe. They gave it to their son, who was eighteen months old.
The results were not immediate. Rubilar is careful about this—it was not magic. But after three months, the changes were unmistakable. Blood disappeared from his stools. His inflammatory episodes diminished. Eventually, he stopped needing corticosteroids altogether. Realizing what they had discovered, Rubilar and her husband decided to scale production and help others. They founded Erisea, operating under the brand name Promarine, with private investors from the local fishing industry. Rubilar insisted on sustainable aquaculture rather than harvesting wild sea urchins. The company became Patagonia's first technology-based firm with an exclusive CONICET aquaculture biotechnology license.
Since launching in 2023, Promarine's sales have grown by 1,400 percent. The supplements are marketed as dietary aids designed to reduce inflammation, improve mitochondrial function, and modulate immune responses. Rubilar's team has tested them against symptoms associated with autoimmune diseases, long Covid, fibromyalgia, and neurodegenerative disorders like ALS. The products are now sold in pharmacies and health food stores across Argentina and exported to the United States and Spain. Sixty-five percent of customers repurchase them, a metric Rubilar sees as evidence they are genuinely helping people.
Her son is now thirteen. He attends school. He plays rugby. He drinks the sea urchin extract daily—the commercial version is now tasteless—and maintains a healthy diet. If you met him, you would not know what he endured. Rubilar, who serves as co-founder and chief technology officer while pursuing an MBA to manage the company's growth, reflects on the arc of her career. Years spent documenting how sea urchins eat and reproduce seemed, to some, like a waste of resources. Without that knowledge, she says, Erisea would never have existed. The research that appeared disconnected from any practical application became, in the end, the foundation of everything.
Citações Notáveis
It's not magic. However, after three months, the changes were striking. He stopped having blood in his stools.— Tamara Rubilar, describing her son's response to the sea urchin extract
We were adamant that we wanted to do this without killing animals. We didn't want to create an industry that would plunder the sea.— Tamara Rubilar, on Promarine's commitment to sustainable aquaculture
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How much of this was luck versus the science you'd already done?
The luck was real—the Russian paper, my mother speaking Russian, the molecule coming from sea urchins. But luck only works if you're prepared to recognize it. I'd spent years studying these creatures. I knew their biology. Without that, the coincidence would have meant nothing.
When you first gave the extract to your son, were you afraid?
Terrified. But I was also desperate. He was suffering in ways I can't fully describe. You test it on yourself first. You watch. You wait. Then you make a choice as a parent.
The company grew 1,400 percent in three years. That's extraordinary. Did you expect that?
No. I expected skepticism. Dietary supplements are not drugs. People are cautious. But the repurchase rate tells you something—people feel the difference. They come back because it works.
You could have kept this private, just for your son. Why scale it?
Because once you know something helps, keeping it from others who are suffering feels wrong. My son was one child. There are thousands of children and adults with these conditions.
What do you want people to understand about this story?
That basic research matters. That studying how an animal behaves or reproduces is not frivolous. And that sometimes the most practical solutions come from the most unexpected places.