Scientists face impossible choice over preservation of priceless blue crab blood: Let vital medicines wither or an endangered bird
Scientists face impossible choice over preservation of priceless blue crab blood: Let vital medicines wither or an endangered bird
“Everything you do in life comes from horseshoe crab blood," says fisherman George Topping. Vaccines and antibiotics just wouldn't be the same without it.
The headline left out something important from the article and posed a false dichotomy, a minority of harvested crabs are being used to develop medicines, and most of those are released and survive. The vast majority that are killed are being harvested for use as bait in commercial fishing. Seems like that's the obvious thing to cut back on to save the humans, the crabs, and the birds.
Even worse, there is already a synthetic available, which is approved in Europe
So basically we're choosing to kill a bird because we can't rely on corporations to cut back?
Yep. Can’t cut into profits. What would our investors think?
Besides urging companies to stop this practice, stop eating fish.
Obviously, that's the one that's off the table. The choice is strictly between developing medicine or saving a species.
And I think we all know the birds are the ones who will have to go.
- Capitalism
Also, it looks more like climate change is what's fucking over the spawning of horseshoe crabs. Not blood harvesting. Eggs need a specific temperature to survive.
I'm sorry but, was the whole successfully cloning animals thing just a fever dream? Is there a reason we can't be doing that for something like this? (Disclaimer: am stupid, pls ELI5)
I, too, would like to know if we shared the same fever dream.
If I remember right, cloning is banned in most places. Or at least there was talk about banning cloning in the EU in the early 10's.
Cloning is not a magical tool with scifi vats etc it's taking dna and placing it in an embryo and puting it back in an animal womb, here breeding would be more on point. But I too am stupid, this is my take on it from what I know.
Better headline: East Coast States Fail to Protect Resource Vital to Medicine Production
Horseshoe crabs not blue crabs
Horseshoe "blood" is blue, and it's not actually blood it's hemolymph. It is blue crab blood. Blue blood from a crab.
It's a Fortune 500 article. They aren't very good on things like this. They mean the blue blood from horseshoe crabs.
Ideally we should find a replacement for that horseshoe crab blood or perhaps a way to raise them in captivity. Maybe someone could come up with something to give the crabs to offset the damage caused by taking the blood. The issue might not even be primarily due to the blood with everything else happening climate change wise.
There might be ways to improve things for the birds but animals with super specific niches just kinda run the risk of becoming extinct. I feel similar about Pandas and Koalas.
Already have
"A synthetic alternative was later invented and has since been approved in Europe as an equivalent to the ingredient that requires horseshoe crabs. But in the U.S., the blood harvest isn't shrinking. It's growing." - source
Stop terrorizing animals for stupid overpopulated people.
Better headline: East Coast States Fail to Protect Resource Vital to Medicine Production
Should be an easy choice. Human lives are more important than bird lives.
The horseshoe crab is a bird? Lol wat? Anyway why isn't it possible to create the blood in a lab or breed the crab/bird?
There is already a synthetic version approved in EU. US just refuses to use it. NPR article about it
The horseshoe crab is a bird? Lol wat?
Did you read beyond the headline?
I did after responding. I just think the headline has tried to fit as much information as possible but is a bit confusing doing so
To be honest, I too headed straight for the comments without reading the article. But I didn't comment till I read it. It's also not technically a crab either, despite being called one.
Literacy: Not even once!
Personally I’m team human so…. Sorry bird