How the blood of the horseshoe crab helps keep you alive

  • 26 Jul 2011


Chances are you owe your life to the horseshoe crab. In the 50s, scientists discovered that LAL (Limulus amoebocyte lysate), a clotting agent found in the critter's blue blood, binds to fungi and endotoxins, coagulating into a gel around such invaders. The result: a simple way to detect impurities in pharmaceutical drugs. Here's how drug developer Charles River harvests crabs (and their blood) without killing them.

Wired explains how the process works, in pictures. Enter the gallery to learn...