"The cost of crab blood has been quoted as high as $14,000 per quart." That's how much blood from a horseshoe crab can retail for. WHAT?! Their distinctive blue blood is used to detect dangerous Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli in injectable drugs such as insulin, implantable medical devices such as knee replacements, and hospital instruments such as scalpels and IVs. Components of this crab blood have a unique and invaluable talent for finding infection, and that has driven up an insatiable demand. Every year the medical testing industry catches a half-million horseshoe crabs to sample their blood.
The main concern from the biomedical field is that the constant bleeding of these crabs may be endangering the species that has been around since the dinosaur age. Scientists bleed only 1/3 of their blood and then put them back into the ocean but do they really survive once in the water? How much blood do they need to live? These are the questions that the biomedical industry is putting millions of dollars into the research to come to the bottom of this.
Reference: Chesler, Caren. "The Blood of the Crab." Popular Mechanics. N.p., 05 May 2017. Web. 14 June 2017.
Wow! Never knew crab blood could be so expensive. You really got me thinking with those questions. You know the other day I read an article about the needs of the many vs the needs of the few. I think this is very relatable because we are weighing so much of human medical advances against crabs and their lives. Which do you think is takes priority as we address this issue?
ReplyDeleteAlthough it sounds very cool that the blood has so many unique uses I think that people should look a little closer at weather or not the crabs die after they are returned to the water after being drained of a lot of their blood. The scientist should pay close to attention to weather or not the animals are getting closer to extinction. Are they really willing to make these animals extinct just so they can use some of their blood?
ReplyDeleteI also did my story on horseshoe crabs (#horseshoecrabgang) and my article said that very few of the crabs who were put back into the ocean after having their blood drawn survived. It has become somewhat of an ethical dilemma as crab blood can be used to save human lives but at the cost of the crabs. I feel as though the extremely evolutionary fit crabs should not be harmed.
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