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What is horseshoe crab blood used for? Horseshoe crab blood is bright blue. It contains important immune cells that are exceptionally sensitive to toxic bacteria. When those cells meet invading bacteria, they clot around it and protect the rest of the horseshoe crab's body from toxins.
Horseshoe crab blood is used to test vaccines around the world. But while Europe has approved a synthetic alternative, biomedical labs are bleeding more crabs from the Atlantic coast.
Ever wonder why horseshoe crabs are used for their blood? What makes their blood so special? Find out the significant role horseshoe crab blood plays in the medical industry and more here!
Horseshoe crab blood is characterized by its remarkable ability to clot in the presence of bacterial endotoxins due to a substance called Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL). This capability is due to the presence of specialized cells known as amebocytes.
Today, policy change goes into effect that allows companies to stop using horseshoe crab blood in the safety testing of new products. The United States Pharmacopeia, a quality standards group that indicates which tests are accepted in manufacturing, has published for early adoption a policy that now allows the use of non-animal derived tests.
Horseshoe crab blood is key to making a COVID-19 vaccine—but the ecosystem may suffer. Conservationists worry the animals, which are vital food sources for many species along the U.S. East Coast...
Horseshoe crabs have been around for 450 million years — nearly unchanged. And their blood has helped the medical world make some fascinating discoveries.
Horseshoe crab blood is the basis for a gold-standard safety test used worldwide on vaccines and other injectable medicines, intravenous fluids, and implantable medical devices. Specifically, the test, or assay, identifies whether certain bacterial contaminants called endotoxins are present, and to what extent.
The blue blood of the horseshoe crab clots when it comes into contact with bacterial toxins, which helps technicians identify contaminated products. A synthetic alternative to the blood-derived...
An extract in the crab's blood cells chemically reacts to harmful stuff and scientists use it to test if new medicines are safe. And horseshoe crab blood is the only thing humans can find ...