The horseshoe crab, which occasionally shows up on New York beaches, and is 450 million years old, may yet be saved from extinction from the pharmaceutical companies which hunt it for its blue blood. The blue blood saves babies’ and grown-ups’ lives by being the only means of identifying harmful bacteria toxins in the blood.
A Singapore lab scientist named Jeak Ling Ding discovered a synthetic Factor C which can replace the blue blood, and now they may leave the horseshoe crab alone. Hurrah for conservation!
The only hitch is the pharma companies. They may not switch from using blue blood from the horseshoe crab. Maybe people should urge them to do that.
Civilization 