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Blueberry milkshakes (i.postimg.cc)
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[-] Cheesus@lemmy.world 275 points 1 year ago

For those who don't know, the blue liquid is their blood

Why are they draining it in this way? Poor things.

[-] CluckN@lemmy.world 203 points 1 year ago

It’s catch and release so they let them go afterwards where they found them. Horseshoe crab blood is an essential biomedical tool that’s saved countless lives.

What are some example uses for the blood? I’m fascinated.

Thanks for the reply too.

[-] CluckN@lemmy.world 131 points 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.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 74 points 1 year ago

$15.85 per ml, for a more at scale measurement.

[-] jasondj@ttrpg.network 56 points 1 year ago

How close is this stuff to HP’s Cyan?

[-] gkd@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

With how much those things cost, I wouldn’t be surprised if some horseshoe crab blood was mixed in to really make the color pop.

[-] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I just snorted

[-] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

Is this why the royals are rich? Because they have blue blood.

[-] Aqarius@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I, uh, I may have an economic recovery proposal.

[-] Mercival@lemm.ee 46 points 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 7 points 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 7 points 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.

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[-] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

They are not crabs nor crustaceans.

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[-] Rubanski@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] Zron@lemmy.world 35 points 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.

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

On horseshoes, sure why not, and buy two

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[-] EvilCartyen@feddit.dk 37 points 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 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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 7 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] Alabaster_Mango@lemmy.ca 73 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Here's a description of the bleeding process:

https://www.horseshoecrab.org/med/bestpractices.html

It's specifically non-fatal:

Bleeding horseshoe crabs to death is not an acceptable practice in the U.S.

The volume of blood taken is actually quite small, as most of the material in the collection jars is anticoagulant.

It may look uncomfortable to us humans, but keep in mind that horseshoe crabs are not human. What's normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. Granted, it would be kinda weird to be hoisted from your home by a giant ape and forced into a blood drive. It's done as gently as possible though.

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 68 points 1 year ago

Unfortunately the practice often results in death anyway. 30% die in the process.

It also has unforseen consequences in the food chain, so by all means we should look for alternatives.

Thankfully alternatives already exist .

[-] abraxas@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Last I read synthetic LAL was nowhere near scaleable. Bleeding Crabs is very expensive.

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[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Still, I was disappointed to find that a large percentage of released crabs die anyway. Can't find the number, but it's significant. 1/3rd?

[-] lemmylommy@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Afair estimates put the portion of dead crabs between 10 and 30%. Some might also be unable to reproduce due to the bleeding.

[-] Mercival@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

Sadly a lot of the companies harvesting them will just kill and sell them for bait anyways.

Of those that are released, about a third die. Not to say about the decrease in overall fitness, which can lead to them falling prey more easily.

It's obviously a traumatic experience for the animal in the best case scenario and that is going to reflect on their ability to survive in the wild.

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[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 year ago

Highest chance of survival/low stress

[-] Darken@reddthat.com 5 points 1 year ago

That's how blueberry is made Freeze some of this add some structure, let it set, then put it on trees

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[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 87 points 1 year ago

Obviously didn't read the meme. It's a blueberry milkshake. Everyone knows blood isn't that color.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Which proves they're all royalty.

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[-] menemen@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

So this us basically like a blood farm from vampires? Shit, still surprises me what an evil species we really are.

[-] zazaserty@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 year ago

I kinda agree with you but when you think about it it's not that bad. They are released afterwards and we can use that blood to save countless people, like you and me.

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[-] 15liam20@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A pint? That's nearly an arm-full!

this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
664 points (94.0% liked)

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