Horeshoe crabs saving us all?

[James Scola]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/the-blood-harvest/284078/

Apparently hundreds of thousands of horeshoe crabs are harvested every year (many right nearby where I go each summer for vacation in New England) and bled alive to capture a rare chemical that helps identify the presence of bacteria in liquids.  Pharma companies have used the chemical to run tests on every FDA-tested drug in recent memory, meaning we've all benefitted from the creepy blue blood drained every day from horseshoe crabs.

Thankfully, most all the crabs survive, but it does appear that their numbers are dwindling and it could be a result of the bleeding.  I've always seen these little buggers on the beach each summer and thought they were pretty ugly (and scary when I was younger!), but now I'll show a bit more respect to them the next time I find one on the beach.

[Adam Altman]

wow fascinating, thank you.

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[Quingan Zhou]

Thanks James! 

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Quingan Zhou

Yale College 2011
Humanities, B.A.

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[Lindsay Hong]

Super cool. Thanks for sharing, James!