Crab Wars - A Tale of Horseshoe Crabs, Ecology, and Human Health
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A01=William Sargent
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Author_William Sargent
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blood
breeding grounds
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=PSAF
Category=WNCS
Category=WNW
commercial fishing
COP=United States
decline
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
drug certification
ecology
ecosystem
endangered species
environment
environmental impact
environmentalism
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
fda
government
horseshoe crabs
Language_English
limulus lysate
natural resources
nature
nonfiction
PA=Available
pharmaceuticals
population numbers
Price_€20 to €50
progress
PS=Active
regulation
science
softlaunch
testing
vaccines
wildlife
Product details
- ISBN 9781684580767
- Dimensions: 5 x 8mm
- Publication Date: 01 Sep 2021
- Publisher: Brandeis University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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Because every drug certified by the FDA must be tested using the horseshoe crab derivative known as Limulus lysate, a multimillion-dollar industry has emerged involving the license to bleed horseshoe crabs and the rights to their breeding grounds. William Sargent presents a thoroughly accessible insider’s guide to the discovery of the lysate test, the exploitation of the horseshoe crab at the hands of multinational pharmaceutical conglomerates, local fishing interests, and the legal and governmental wrangling over the creatures’ ultimate fate. In the end, the story of the horseshoe crab is a sobering reflection on the unintended consequences of scientific progress and the danger of self-regulated industries controlling a limited natural resource. This new edition brings the story up to date as companies race to manufacture alternatives to the horseshoe crab blood, which is now essential for testing vaccines such as those developed to counter COVID-19. However, horseshoe crab populations are still dwindling, with profound implications not only for the future of the crabs themselves but also for the ecosystems that depend on them.
William Sargent is a consultant for the NOVA Science Series and is the author of numerous books about science and the environment, including A Year in the Notch: Exploring the Natural History of the White Mountains and Storm Surge: A Coastal Village Battles the Rising Atlantic. Formerly director of the Baltimore Aquarium and a research assistant at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he has taught at the Briarwood Center for Marine Biology and at Harvard University.
