Why is Horseshoe Crab Blood So Expensive?

These marine invertebrates can solve puzzles, use tools, and camouflage themselves by changing their very skin -- yet they live only three to five years, and die after mating. Learn more about octopuses in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on these articles: https://animals.ho ...  Show more

Iron processing is a benchmark of civilization for good reason -- this metal makes a lot of technology possible. Learn about the history and science of refining iron and steel in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/iron.htmSee o ...  Show more

How does the blood of a 450-million-year-old arthropod help prevent lethal infections in humans? And could we exhaust the supply?  Zachary Crockett wades in.

For decades, humans have harvested the blood of horseshoe crabs, which is used to test whether many of our vaccines and medicines are contaminated with harmful bacterial toxins. But the horseshoe crab harvesting industry has few regulations and a lot of secrecy. NPR investigative ...  Show more

The horseshoe crab has endured for over 450 million years. It has survived several mass extinctions including the one that killed off the dinosaurs. One reason for their incredible resiliency is their ability to fend off bacterial infection. Their blood contains cells that clot a ...  Show more

Horseshoe crabs are not much to look at.  But beneath their unassuming catcher’s-mitt shell, they harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs and survive all the Earth’s mass extinctions.  And what is that secret superpower? Their ...