#HorseshoeCrab follow-up: So little progress since I last checked maybe ten years ago... 🙁

Background: #HorseshoeCrabs (HSCs) are ancient (450 million years or more). They have a very early version of #ImmuneSystem that depends on something called "Limulus amebocyte lysate" or LAL to detect bacterial toxins and "clump" together to neutralize those bacteria/toxins.

This is scientifically very interesting in terms of evolution, etc....

https://daily.jstor.org/the-horseshoe-crab-same-as-it-ever-was/

Some bright scientist figured out that LAL could be used to detect contamination of vaccines and related medical stuff. Since that discovery HSCs have been commercially "milked" (actually more like a blood donation) to produce LAL for the pharmaceutical industry. [Before that they killed thousands of rabbits for this purpose. LAL was an improvement, and necessary, but read on for why it is no longer acceptable!]

Abstract: "Horseshoe crabs have been integral to the safe production of #vaccines and injectable medications for the past 40 years. The bleeding of live horseshoe crabs, a process that leaves thousands dead annually, is an 👉 ecologically unsustainable practice👈 for all four species of horseshoe crab and the shorebirds that rely on their eggs as a primary food source during spring migration. Populations of both horseshoe crabs and shorebirds are in decline. This study confirms the efficacy of recombinant Factor C (rFC), a synthetic alternative that eliminates the need for animal products in #endotoxin detection. Furthermore, our findings confirm that the biomedical industry can achieve a 90% reduction in the use of reagents derived from horseshoe crabs by using the synthetic alternative for the testing of water and other common materials used in the manufacturing process. This represents an extraordinary opportunity for the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries to significantly contribute to the conservation of horseshoe crabs and the birds that depend on them."

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2006607

Bottom Line: There is an approved alternative to LAL called recombinant Factor C (rFC) out there, but Pharma mostly still relies on milking HSCs. 👎

Now in 2026: "A lawsuit is filed to protect ancient horseshoe crabs"...

This is basically an #OverFishing story with a rather odd and spiny subject. Even if they aren't warm and fuzzy we need to stand up for these magnificent creatures, and the ecological webs that depend on them!

https://www.wusf.org/environment/2026-01-06/lawsuit-filed-protect-ancient-horseshoe-crabs