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.
Comment on Blueberry milkshakes
dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months agoWhat are some example uses for the blood? I’m fascinated.
Thanks for the reply too.
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk 7 months ago
prayer@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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 to produce medicine and then remove the bacteria 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.
Rolder@reddthat.com 7 months ago
Wonder why we can’t just make the coagulant ourselves. Or maybe we can but milking crabs is still cheaper.
prayer@lemmy.world 7 months 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.
wolfpack86@lemmy.world 7 months 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.
Vorticity@lemmy.world 7 months ago
CluckN@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
someguy3@lemmy.world 7 months ago
$15.85 per ml, for a more at scale measurement.
jasondj@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
How close is this stuff to HP’s Cyan?
RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I just snorted
NumbersCanBeFun@kbin.social 7 months ago
I’m in the wrong fucking business
IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 7 months ago
Is this why the royals are rich? Because they have blue blood.
Aqarius@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I, uh, I may have an economic recovery proposal.
Mercival@lemm.ee 7 months ago
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.
peopleproblems@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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?
Mercival@lemm.ee 7 months ago
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.
MeanEYE@lemmy.world 7 months ago
They are not crabs nor crustaceans.
Four_lights77@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Probably so it can detect it as quickly as possible for elimination.
Rubanski@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Discoveries like this always makes me wonder, who had the idea to try it and why
SpiderShoeCult@sopuli.xyz 7 months ago
wait until you hear about protamines and their medical uses
Zron@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 7 months ago
On horseshoes, sure why not, and buy two
Restaldt@lemm.ee 7 months 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