This Crab's Blood Is The Reason You're Alive
Popular Mechanics|September 2019

Biomedical companies are bleeding more than 500,000 horseshoe crabs every year. Can this creature that’s been around since the dinosaurs be saved?

Caren Chesler
This Crab's Blood Is The Reason You're Alive

Meghan Owings plucks a horseshoe crab out of a tank and bends its helmet-shaped shell in half to reveal a soft white membrane. Owings inserts a needle and draws a bit of blood. “See how blue it is,” she says, holding the syringe up to the light. It really is. The liquid shines cerulean in the tube.

When she’s done with the show and tell, Owings squirts the contents of the syringe back into the tank. I gasp. “That’s thousands of dollars!” I exclaim, and can’t help but think of the scene in Annie Hall when Woody Allen is trying cocaine for the first time and accidentally sneezes, blowing the coke everywhere.

I’m not crazy for my concern. The cost of crab blood has been quoted as high as $15,000 per quart.

The crab’s distinctive blue blood is used to detect dangerous gram-negative bacteria like Escherichia coli (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 more than half a million horseshoe crabs in order to sample their blood.

But that demand cannot climb forever. There’s a growing concern among scientists that the biomedical industry’s bleeding of these crabs may be endangering a creature that’s been around since dinosaur days. There are currently no quotas on how many crabs one can bleed because biomedical laboratories drain only a third of the crab’s blood, then put them back into the water, alive. But no one really knows what happens to the crabs once they’re slipped back into the sea. Do they survive? Are they ever the same?

This story is from the September 2019 edition of Popular Mechanics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 2019 edition of Popular Mechanics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM POPULAR MECHANICSView All
The First AntiShip Ballistic Missile Attack- Since the outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missiles and kamikaze drones at Israeli and U.S. targets in a show of support for Palestine.
Popular Mechanics US

The First AntiShip Ballistic Missile Attack- Since the outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missiles and kamikaze drones at Israeli and U.S. targets in a show of support for Palestine.

The U.S. Navy Destroyer Mason (DDG87) was wrapping up a mission rescuing a tanker from pirates in the Gulf of Aden when the situation sharply escalated. The ship's radar detected at least one-or possibly two-missiles moving toward its position at supersonic speeds, each loaded with well over a half ton of explosives.

time-read
3 mins  |
July - August 2024
The Surprising Drama Behind the Decimal Point - When german mathematician Christopher Clavius introduced the world to the humble decimal point in 1593, he used it in one table, and never mentioned it or used it again.
Popular Mechanics US

The Surprising Drama Behind the Decimal Point - When german mathematician Christopher Clavius introduced the world to the humble decimal point in 1593, he used it in one table, and never mentioned it or used it again.

When german mathematician Christopher Clavius introduced the world to the humble decimal point in 1593, he used it in one table, and never mentioned it or used it again.

time-read
2 mins  |
July - August 2024
The Obelisk– Lifeforms hiding in humans
Popular Mechanics US

The Obelisk– Lifeforms hiding in humans

Scientists have just discovered new "lifeforms" inside our bodies. Tiny bits of RNA, smaller than a virus, colonize bacteria inside our mouths and guts and have the power to transfer information that can be read by a cell.

time-read
1 min  |
July - August 2024
After You Die, a Universe Eats Your Body
Popular Mechanics US

After You Die, a Universe Eats Your Body

Scientists are unraveling the secrets of the necrobiome the ecosystem that takes over our corpses after death.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July - August 2024
A Blistering Inferno. A Whirling Tornado. A Shocking Crash
Popular Mechanics US

A Blistering Inferno. A Whirling Tornado. A Shocking Crash

Aerial firefighters have always been a critical line of defense against raging wildfires. But increasingly extreme blazes and a horrific accident have many wondering how we'll adapt to fires of the future.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July - August 2024
Our New Moon Epoch
Popular Mechanics US

Our New Moon Epoch

WHEN HUMANS GET INVOLVED IN places they weren't invited, things start to change. The Moon is no different.

time-read
1 min  |
July - August 2024
Rapid Evolution
Popular Mechanics US

Rapid Evolution

ON APRIL 26, 1986, THE No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukrainethen part of the Soviet Union-exploded, sending a massive plume of radiation into the sky. Nearly four decades later, the facility and much of the surrounding area remain uninhabited-by humans, at least.

time-read
2 mins  |
July - August 2024
HOW TO GET STARTED SOLDERING
Popular Mechanics US

HOW TO GET STARTED SOLDERING

Soldering is rapidly becoming the skill of a bygone era. Much like the ability to drive a car with a manual transmission, read a map, or write a check, younger generations are learning less about how to work with their hands-and it's time for that to change.

time-read
5 mins  |
July - August 2024
SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS
Popular Mechanics US

SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS

TOOLS LOSE THEIR EDGE AND BECOME DULL. That's a fact of their existence.

time-read
4 mins  |
July - August 2024
CATALYTIC CONVERTER
Popular Mechanics US

CATALYTIC CONVERTER

THERE'S AN ARMY OF THIEVES COMING FOR YOUR

time-read
10+ mins  |
July - August 2024