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Blue blood, vaccines, and...
Viruses and bacterias are at the top of the worry list. The tiny invaders are hiding in plain sight. Biomedical research centered around irradicating human diseases needs many crabs and, to be more precise, blue crabs. Horseshoe crabs’ blood is essential for vaccine production. The blood is rich in copper, and it clots in the presence of the bacterial toxin. Horseshoe crabs’ blood uniqueness has helped the species to survive for 450 million years. Blood is now drained from live crabs, to be used as an essential production raw material. In the pre-pandemic era, crab bleeders was a $1 billion market.
Drug manufacturing is preoccupied with producing vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and medical equipment free from bacteria or other living microorganisms. Keeping it clean is not an easy task. Here where the sea aristocrats come in, unfortunately for the crabs. A wild crab has something precious to offer, not by its choice though. A horseshoe crab has been used for four decades for its unique blood; crabs’ bloodline has become a lifeline for humans. The blue-blooded crabs are a precious source of amebocytes that can fight pathogens hiding in the medical apparatus, ingredients needed to produce vaccines, and medical implants. Half a million crabs are harvested annually and made to bleed. Most of the crabs are released back to nature, but up…
