this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
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[–] [email protected] 205 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s catch and release so they let them go afterwards where they found them. Horseshoe crab blood is an essential biomedical tool that’s saved countless lives.

[–] [email protected] 80 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What are some example uses for the blood? I’m fascinated.

Thanks for the reply too.

[–] [email protected] 134 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It’s an anticoagulant and can detect the smallest traces of endotoxins in medicine. I’m sure I’m missing some details but there are some great medical journals that detail the process and help explain why it’s $60,000 a gallon.

[–] [email protected] 76 points 1 year ago (3 children)

$15.85 per ml, for a more at scale measurement.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How close is this stuff to HP’s Cyan?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

With how much those things cost, I wouldn’t be surprised if some horseshoe crab blood was mixed in to really make the color pop.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I just snorted

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is this why the royals are rich? Because they have blue blood.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I, uh, I may have an economic recovery proposal.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It is not an anticoagulant, quite the opposite actually. The blood (limulus amoebocyte lysate) will coagulate at the slightest hint of gram-negative bacteria and their endotoxins.

It's most likely a defense mechanism against bacterial infections.

It's widely used in medicine to check for bacterial contamination of injectable pharmaceuticals.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Woah. Are horseshoe crabs like other crustaceans in that they eat pretty much anything including/mostly detritus?

If thats the case, than how would it be beneficial to have blood that coagulates so easily?

Wouldn't every meal lead to a crab version of a stroke?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Horseshoe crabs are not crusteceans, they are early chelicerates.

They have an open circulatory system, where the blood (heamolymph) freely spills out of the arteries into surrounding tissues, so a small clot probably wouldn't cause issues. Think of it like a cyst, sometimes if an infection can't be removed by the immune system, your body will just enclose it in a capsule, so it can't spread.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Ahhh that makes sense. That's a pretty cool defense system

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They are not crabs nor crustaceans.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not a relevant time to be pedantic

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, he asked if they are like other crustaceans, so the answer is they are not crustaceans so no, they are not like others.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Aww fuck you're right. I'm the one in the wrong here. I apologize, it wasnt a relevant time for me to be an ass

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s great that you owned up. Many wouldn’t.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I may be a bit combative in my comments, but in general I dont want to contribute to toxicity, so when I'm wrong I'll fess up and apologize for it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I feel you and I don’t know your age but me personally I found that with age, I was more forthcoming with saying i was wrong and just trying to be nice to folk.

Have a great day dude!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Age might play a part in it, I do think I've been more willing to fess up to wrongdoing than average throughout my life as well though as I function best in honest environments. You have a great day as well!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Probably so it can detect it as quickly as possible for elimination.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Discoveries like this always makes me wonder, who had the idea to try it and why

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

wait until you hear about protamines and their medical uses

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Where can someone find these horseshoe crabs?

And are they able to be bred in captivity?

Pls respond fast, I’m already driving to home depot to buy the largest above ground pool they have.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

On horseshoes, sure why not, and buy two

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Most aquariums have a horseshoe crab petting exhibit. Hands on.

If you are a fast enough runner i bet you could take a couple

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago

The blood contains a coagulent which clots in the presence of bacterial toxins. It is extracted and used to ensure that medical equipent and stuff such as vaccines are sterile and safe.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The main use is to detect how much endotoxins (proteins that cause our immune system to react) are present in a sample. This is important because we often use bacteria/fungus/yeast to produce medicine and then remove the microorganism from that medicine. This checks for anything left behind in that process, far more sensitive than any other test or machine can do.

If it wasn't for horseshoe crab blood, creating medicine that is safe for injection would be a lot harder and potentially more dangerous.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wonder why we can’t just make the coagulant ourselves. Or maybe we can but milking crabs is still cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

My guess without checking would be regulatory. The FDA doesn't want to approve an alternative to an already working method unless it can be shown to truly be an alternative. That testing is lengthy and expensive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It's not a chemical compound, the active component is an amebocyte. Same reason we can't just make red blood cells and need other humans to donate them.

There have been other attempts at making synthetic coagulants without broad success. The thing that seems to be the most effective at minimizing the horseshoe crab burden is using machines to do the detection and cut down on the amount of LAL needed vs running the test visually.