Horseshoe Crabs Are Bled Alive To Create an Unparalleled Biomedical Technology

Lasrick writes "Alexis Madrigal at the Atlantic: 'The marvelous thing about horseshoe crab blood, though, isn't the color. It's a chemical found only in the amoebocytes of its blood cells that can detect mere traces of bacterial presence and trap them in inescapable clots.' Madrigal continues, 'To take advantage of this biological idiosyncrasy, pharmaceutical companies burst the cells that contain the chemical, called coagulogen. Then, they can use the coagulogen to detect contamination in any solution that might come into contact with blood. If there are dangerous bacterial endotoxins in the liquid—even at a concentration of one part per trillion—the horseshoe crab blood extract will go to work, turning the solution into what scientist Fred Bang, who co-discovered the substance, called a "gel." ... I don't know about you, but the idea that every single person in America who has ever had an injection has been protected because we harvest the blood of a forgettable sea creature with a hidden chemical superpower makes me feel a little bit crazy. This scenario is not even sci-fi, it's postmodern technology.'"

Comments

Bled Alive?

[just_another_sean]

Does PITA know about this? /ducks and covers

Re:Bled Alive?

[Anonymous Coward]

That was my first thought actually. Are they kept alive and 'donate' a little at a time, or are they bled dry and then just tossed on the barbie? The latter seems a bit erm, wasteful and shortsighted to say the least.

Also, as any biologist (or intelligent human) is aware, there is NO SUCH THING as a 'forgettable' creature. While the concept is interesting (if a bit discomforting), the summary reads like the ravings of sociopath.

Re:Bled Alive?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, they take 30% of the crab's blood and do a distant release to avoid recapture. Research went into checking if the bleeders have reduced respawning. There's also research into a synthesizing the bacteria flagger.

It sounds savage and I'm not suggesting they're kind to the crabs, but it sounds like they're not being totally irresponsible and causing another dodo.

Re:Bled Alive?

[phaedrus5001]

I actually work for a company that does this. The crab will only bleed a certain amount of blood (usually ~30%), then stop. We also don't bleed them if they're wounded or lethargic. I will agree, though, that I find the claim of a 'forgettable' creature dubious. Of course, this practice is the alternative of using rabbits to to check for bacterial endotoxins, so take your pick.

Postmodern technology?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Why is it postmodern technology? Because it deconstructs the cells? ;-)

Rabbits were used first

[interkin3tic]

Before this discovery, they used to inject rabbits with the substance being tested, and measured if the rabbits got a fever. It was obviously not a great way to do things. Wasn't very quantifiable or sensitive. Source.

Another bit of trivia: one of the other major commercial uses of horseshoe crabs is cutting them up for bait. Works well for that, but you obviously use up the crabs quickly. So we can inconvenience them for a life-saving medical wonder, or we can kill them for a few pounds of fish to eat. Naturally, using them as bait has not been outlawed.

One last bit of trivia: this isn't really news. I mean, I obviously find it cool, but seriously, 1960 was the discovery. Beta isn't bad enough, now they're altering the content too?

Re:Rabbits were used first

[Peristaltic]

One last bit of trivia: this isn't really news. I mean, I obviously find it cool, but seriously, 1960 was the discovery. Beta isn't bad enough, now they're altering the content too?

I, for one, cannot wait until the story headlined: "Justin Beiber's Totally RAD new computer!" hits the front page.

Maybe a new poll: "What color is your iPad?"

Biodiversity and environmentalism

[HeckRuler]

It's one of the big arguments for environmentalism and bio diversity. When push comes to shove you sometimes hear "so what if a few species go extinct? They weren't doing all that well before $BUSINESSACTIVITY, why should we try saving them? Why do I care about this species?". And the answer is that the creature represents a massive chain of thousands to millions of generations of genetic experimentation in real-world real-time environments. We're just starting to open Pandora's box of genetics and culling the biodiversity of the planet could be throwing away truly helpful and useful tools we could use in the future.

Plus genocide is just sort of a dick move.

Re:"Forgettable sea creature"

[NIK282000]

There is nothing forgettable about horseshoe crabs. They are older than dinosaurs, the oldest fossils of horseshoe crabs are 450M years old!

Re:Aren't these an endangered species?

[QRDeNameland]

According to Wikipedia, they are not an endangered species though there are reports of declining populations. As to breeding them in captivity:

Raising horseshoe crabs in captivity has proven to be difficult. Some evidence indicates mating only takes place in the presence of the sand or mud in which the horseshoe crab's eggs were hatched. Neither what is in the sand that the crab can sense nor how they sense it is known with certainty.

Sensationalist Headline much?

[SuperKendall]

When I go to donate blood, am I in a room of people being "Bled Alive"? Technically yes but there's a good reason that term is not used to draw people to donate blood, and is also rather a bit much in this case too.

WTF? "forgettable sea creature"?

[Morpeth]

Seriously? Such an enlightened attitude.

Actually one of the strongest memories I have as a young child was coming across a horseshoe crab at a beach, it was in shallow water -- and it both scared the sh*t out of me, and had me intensely fascinated for a good long while. When an adult picked it up so I could see its underside and all those moving legs, I was absolutely, positively, enthralled. Nothing forgettable about it...