Calcium Sensing Receptor (CaSR) Technology

Virginia Cobia Farms technology is based on a unique patented class of proteins called extracellular calcium ion receptor proteins (CaSRs). CaSRs allow cells to sense and respond to various concentrations of ions (e.g. calcium, magnesium, and sodium) and nutrients (amino acids).

The calcium receptor "senses" salt ions in water and is responsible for enabling fish and other aquatic organisms to respond to changes in both water salinity and nutrients in their aquatic environment. Virginia Cobia Farms licensing partner, MariCal, has developed its technology to allow marine fish, such as cobia, to adapt and grow in very low water salinity environments without the use of genetic engineering (GMO's), drugs, or hormones. (US Patent #'s: 6,337,391; 6,463,882; 6,854,422; 7,182,041)

MariCal uses state-of-the-art cell and molecular biology methods strictly as research tools to study the most fundamental aspects of CaSRs.

More about CaSRs:

• Calcium receptor protein was discovered by the co-founders of MariCal, including CEO Dr. H. William Harris, M.D., Ph.D., formerly of The Children's Hospital, Boston and Harvard Medical School.
• MariCal's active involvement in CaSR research, with 58 issued and pending patents, make MariCal a global leader in aquaculture innovation.
• CaSRs are minute biological switches located in cell membranes that sense and respond to ions and nutrients.
• CaSRs present in many organs actually coordinate the body's various responses to ions and nutrients both inside and outside the organism's cells.
• CaSRs are the biological salinity and nutrient sensors that function as master switches for osmoregulation in fish.
• CaSRs control the biomineralization (the deposition of calcium into the shells) of mollusks (oysters and clams) and crustaceans (shrimp, crabs, and lobsters).