Blue blood is quite costly

[Interesting Facts]

Blue blood is quite costly 1 0
Posted by savio   September 11, 2013   3713 views
Did you know one quart of horseshoe crab blood costs $15,000 dollars? The critter's blue blood is a sort of bacteria killing machine that clots around ‘invaders’, eliminating them and protecting horseshoe crabs from lethal infections. Researchers have been harnessing the power of this blue blood to test medical supplies for contamination.
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Posted in Interesting Facts
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1 Horseshoe crabs have been around for millions of years, they were wondering around the shores of bays and lagoons long before the dinosaurs and they are still here today. Horseshoe Crabs shed their shells, a process called molting as they grow. This is a shell from a horseshoe crab that had shed its shell, no horseshoe crab was harmed. Typically these shells are between 5 and 7 inches across the body and between 12 and 16 inches measuring from the tip of the head to the tip of the tail. They have been cleaned, sterilized and sealed with a preservative. Posted on Sep 12, 2013 by wonderworld 2 Their blood is blue because of the hemocyanin protein found in their blood, like other invertebrates. Because of the copper present in hemocyanin, their blood is blue. Their blood contains amebocytes, which play a role similar to white blood cells of vertebrates in defending the organism against pathogens. Amebocytes from the blood of L. polyphemus are used to make Limulus amebocyte lysate, which is used for the detection of bacterial endotoxins in medical applications. The blood of horseshoe crabs is harvested for this purpose. Posted on Sep 18, 2016 by bio_man