Katharina Buczek
Instead, some die after they are bled for use in medical testing. Moreover, living alongside humans in North America and Asia has not been easy.
The prehistoric-looking crabs are often used as fishing bait or fall victim to the effects of pollution and rising tides.
Plus, numerous horseshoe crabs perish every year following mating season– when they become stranded upside down on shorelines.
And the species’ population loss can be devastating for ecosystems.
“The horseshoe crab is a critical link to coastal biodiversity. One of their ecological functions is to lay millions of eggs on beaches to feed shorebirds, fish, and other wildlife. Its large hard shell also serves as a microhabitat for many other species such as sponges, mud crabs, mussels, and snails,” explained the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
But, horseshoe crabs’ fate may not be entirely sealed– at least in terms of medical testing.
For years, no one was able to pinpoint a viable alternative to horseshoe crab blood for the LAL test.
But, during the late 1990s, researchers from the University of Singapore discovered that a synthetic alternative could be used in the LAL test by cloning a crab blood molecule. This genetically engineered protein is known as Recombinant Factor C (rFC).
Japan and China have already approved the use of rFC for medical testing. And Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that developed one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines, also claimed they would not use horseshoe crab blood in their research.
However, synthetic ingredients such as rFC are still not widely utilized in some nations. For example, America still resorts to bleeding countless horseshoe crabs every year in pursuit of science.
Thankfully, though, regulators and manufacturers have issued protocol guidelines on how to lower the number of crabs killed during medical bleeding. Moreover, some pharmaceutical companies have created sustainability programs.
