• CluckN@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      135
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year 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.

      • Mercival@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        47
        ·
        1 year 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
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year 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
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            1 year 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
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                7
                ·
                1 year ago

                Well, he asked if they are like other crustaceans, so the answer is they are not crustaceans so no, they are not like others.

                • Kedly@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  7
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Aww fuck you’re right. I’m the one in the wrong here. I apologize, it wasnt a relevant time for me to be an ass

        • Rubanski@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          1 year ago

          Discoveries like this always makes me wonder, who had the idea to try it and why

      • Zron@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        37
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year 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.

    • EvilCartyen@feddit.dk
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      38
      ·
      1 year ago

      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.

    • prayer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year 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/fungus/yeast to produce medicine and then remove the microorganism 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
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        Wonder why we can’t just make the coagulant ourselves. Or maybe we can but milking crabs is still cheaper.

        • prayer@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year 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
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year 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.