It’s super important to ensure the components used in pharmaceuticals are safe for injection. If you or anyone you know has been injected with a vaccine or anything from a hospital, you have these guys to thank, because otherwise you could’ve been injected with small bits of toxic bacteria and we would have a hard time knowing until you get sick.
Source: I’ve done the LAL assay that uses their blood
According to my research, at most 15 to 30% of the horseshoe crabs die in this process. I believe this statistic includes crabs that die in the operation, as well as after being released.
The crabs have not been cut in half here; they have been folded over. you can see their tails. I am not certain why they are so flexible, but if the folding process killed or permanently injured the crabs, it would not be possible to release them.
There are intense debates on the sustainability of the practice, and it may be contributing to the lowering horseshoe crab population. However, horseshoe crab blood is currently vital to various vaccines, including the covid-19 vaccine. Their blood has bacteria detecting properties that are important for testing.
Roughly 30% of the crab's blood is drained. The long term effects of this on the crab are not entirely clear.
Before the horseshoe crab's value to medicine was known, they were commonly used as bait, which had already been causing a decline in population.
I have edited this comment to include the correct statistics.
NikNam_ on April 23rd, 2021 at 17:52 UTC »
What are those?
B_McD314 on April 23rd, 2021 at 20:06 UTC »
It’s super important to ensure the components used in pharmaceuticals are safe for injection. If you or anyone you know has been injected with a vaccine or anything from a hospital, you have these guys to thank, because otherwise you could’ve been injected with small bits of toxic bacteria and we would have a hard time knowing until you get sick.
Source: I’ve done the LAL assay that uses their blood
Globin347 on April 23rd, 2021 at 20:10 UTC »
According to my research, at most 15 to 30% of the horseshoe crabs die in this process. I believe this statistic includes crabs that die in the operation, as well as after being released.
The crabs have not been cut in half here; they have been folded over. you can see their tails. I am not certain why they are so flexible, but if the folding process killed or permanently injured the crabs, it would not be possible to release them.
There are intense debates on the sustainability of the practice, and it may be contributing to the lowering horseshoe crab population. However, horseshoe crab blood is currently vital to various vaccines, including the covid-19 vaccine. Their blood has bacteria detecting properties that are important for testing.
Roughly 30% of the crab's blood is drained. The long term effects of this on the crab are not entirely clear.
Before the horseshoe crab's value to medicine was known, they were commonly used as bait, which had already been causing a decline in population.
I have edited this comment to include the correct statistics.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/the-blood-harvest/284078/
https://www.genengnews.com/news/new-method-for-sustainable-harvesting-of-horseshoe-crabs-for-limulus-amebocyte-lysate/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/covid-vaccine-needs-horseshoe-crab-blood