Free Republic

An enzyme in the blue blood has been key to testing vaccines since the 1980s, raising concerns for the crabs’ population. But regulatory approval and new data are signaling the tide may be turning orseshoe crabs evolved 445 million years ago and have been around for 1,500 times longer than Homo sapiens. It was not until the 20th century, however, that scientists discovered life-saving properties in their blood. Todd Rosenberg / Eli Lilly and Company ========================================================== Each May, hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs climb onto beaches along the eastern coast of the United States. An invertebrate’s “Love Island,” males...

New research from Plymouth State University and the University of New Hampshire indicates that collecting and bleeding horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes causes short-term changes in their behavior and physiology that could exacerbate the crabs' population decline in parts of the east coast. Each year, the U.S. biomedical industry harvests the blue blood from almost half a million living horseshoe crabs for use in pharmaceuticals—most notably, a product called Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), used to ensure vaccines and medical equipment are free of bacterial contamination. This lifesaving product can only be made from horseshoe crab blood, says researcher Win Watson,...

States React to Declining Horseshoe Crab Population TRENTON, New Jersey, April 30, 2003 (ENS) - New Jersey's chief environmental official signed an emergency order today that curtails the state's horseshoe crab harvest, following similar measures taken Friday by Delaware state officials. The states are reacting to declines in the horseshoe crab population and migrating shorebirds, which stop over each spring on Delaware Bay beaches to feed on the fat rich eggs of the horseshoe crab. "Sudden and dramatic declines in horseshoe crab and shorebird populations make clear that prompt action is needed to protect these resources," said New Jersey's...