Crab Wars: A Tale of Horseshoe Crabs, Ecology, and Human Health

By William Sargent

A timely look at the exploitation of a species that has helped with the development of countless drugs and is fast becoming endangered.
 
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.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brandeis University Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781684580774

Book preview

PART I

Early Lessons

Introduction

IN 1956 A HORSESHOE CRAB sludged up and died, not an uncommon occurrence. But this horseshoe crab happened to die in the laboratory of Dr. Frederik Bang, an uncommon scientist who recognized this death was uncommonly like that of rabbits injected with Gram-negative bacteria. That observation led to an exquisite new test for bacterial contamination.

Today, over a million human lives have been saved by the horseshoe crab test, and the processed blood of these animals is worth over $15,000 a quart. It is used to detect infinitesimally small quantities of Gram-negative bacteria, which are as ubiquitous in the natural environment as they are lethal in the human bloodstream. The Food and Drug Administration now requires that every scalpel, drug, syringe, and flu shot be tested with the horseshoe crab derivative called Limulus amoebocyte lysate, LAL, or lysate for short.

Producing lysate has become a multimillion-dollar industry headquartered in Boston, Tokyo, Switzerland, and Chicago. There has been intense competition between some of the world’s major pharmaceutical conglomerates to develop or acquire subsidiary companies able to produce stable lysate. But little attention has been paid to the unique animals that have made it all happen. Today the industry is plagued by overfishing, dwindling stocks, problems with endangered species, and regulatory uncertainty.

I have tried to tell the story of the horseshoe crab industry through the eyes of the scientists, fishermen, and biotech pioneers involved. In doing so I have traveled the length of the East Coast, interviewed hundreds of people, studied research papers and court documents, and worked inside the industry.

The story is an intensely human one. Like any good story it has rogues and scalawags as well as dedicated scientists—sometimes all wrapped up in the same skin. In many cases I have tried to recreate conversations from long ago. This has not been easy. Few people thought the conversations very memorable at the time, and nobody was taking notes. I have tried to remedy this situation by interviewing everyone involved and comparing their memories of those past events. But people tend to remember details differently. In some cases the participants in the conversations have died, so I have had to rely on the recollections of their wives or colleagues. While I cannot guarantee that these conversations are accurate in every detail, I believe they faithfully reflect the underlying truth and feel of these past events. Where possible I have supplemented people’s memories with quotes from courtroom documents, newspaper articles, and meeting transcipts.

Some of the information in this book comes from my own lifelong interest in horseshoe crabs. My involvement with them stems from childhood fascination and has run the gamut from studying the crabs’ natural history to writing about their physiology to collecting them for lysate. Each has given me insight into the horseshoe crab industry and the legal, environmental, and economic pressures it faces today.

This is a little-known story that affects people, endangered species, and human health worldwide. It shows some of the unforeseen consequences of biotechnology’s powerful new abilities to affect nontarget species and alter the finely tuned balance of natural ecological systems. I believe this story holds important lessons for humanity as we plunge headlong into the rapidly changing world of biotechnology. I hope it shows the importance of regulating these industries, which promise so much but can hurt our planet so severely if we allow them to grow