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Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) is an aqueous extract of motile blood cells from the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus.LAL reacts with bacterial endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are components of the bacterial capsule, the outermost membrane of cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria.
The horseshoe crabs are valuable because their blood can be manufactured into limulus amebocyte lysate, or LAL, that is used to detect pathogens in indispensable medicines such as injectable ...
This decision was influenced by the importance of horseshoe crab eggs as a food source for migratory birds, the ongoing use of horseshoe crabs for bait, and the use of their blood in medical products. [87] The ban supports the conservation goals of the refuge, spanning 66,000 acres (26,700 hectares) of marshes, beaches, and islands near Charleston.
Similarly to some of the white blood cells of vertebrates, in many species amebocytes are found in the blood or body fluid (e.g. as the blood cells of Limulus, the horseshoe crab) [1] and play a role in the defense of the organism against pathogens. Depending on the species, an amebocyte may also digest and distribute food, dispose of wastes ...
"The blood of the horseshoe crab provides a valuable medical product critical to maintaining the safety of many drugs and devices used in medical care," said the Maryland Department of Natural ...
Fishermen harvest horseshoe crabs so the animals can be used as bait and so their blood can be used to make medical products. Conservationists have long pushed to limit the harvest of the animals ...
A protein from horseshoe crab blood is also under investigation as a novel antibiotic. [30] Procuring the raw materials for LAL testing involves collecting and bleeding horseshoe crabs from wild populations. Horseshoe crabs are returned to the ocean after bleeding, however, there is a level of mortality and sub-lethal impact involved.
Horseshoe crabs' icy-blue blood will remain the drug industry's standard for safety tests after a powerful U.S. group ditched a plan to give equal status to a synthetic substitute pushed by Swiss ...