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

Crab Wars : A Tale of Horseshoe Crabs, Bioterrorism, and Human Health ... click to purchase Now being sold by Endotoxin Testing Solutions in their efforts to promote Alternatives to the LAL Test. Synopsis
Surviving almost unmolested for 300 million years, the horseshoe crab is now the object of an intense legal and ethical struggle involving marine biologists, environmentalists, US government officials, biotechnologists, and international corporations. The source of this friction is the discovery 25 years ago that the blood of these ancient creatures serves as the basis for the most reliable test for the deadly and ubiquitous gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria are responsible for life-threatening diseases like menengitis, typhoid, E. coli, Legionnaire's Disease and toxic shock syndrome. 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. Since his youthful fascination with these ancient creatures, William Sargent has spent much of his life observing, studying, and collecting horseshoe crabs. As a result, he presents a thoroughly accessible insider's guide to the discovery of the lysate test, the exploitation of the crabs 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.
Product Identifiers
ISBN-10	1584655313
ISBN-13	9781584655312
Key Details
Author	William Sargent
Number Of Pages	208 pages
Format	Paperback
Publication Date	2006-02-28
Language	English
Publisher	University Press of New England
Additional Details
Illustrated	Yes
Dimensions
Weight	6.4 Oz
Height	0.4 In.
Width	6 In.
Length	9 In.
Target Audience
Group	Trade
Classification Method
Dewey Decimal	333.95/5
Dewey Edition	21
Reviews
"A popular interest book about how a 300 million year old organism became essential to the modern pharmaceutical industry. Sargent traces the discovery of horseshoe crab blood as the perfect in-vitro test for gram-negative bacteria through the development of a multi-million dollar business. He recounts the battles between multinational pharmaceutical companies to "bleed" enough crabs for Limulus lysate and the demand for crabs by the bait fishery. Regulation of the fishery by individual states complicates the issue of preserving this natural resource." --Northeastern Naturalist "In this unusual alert to species depletion, Sargent's heartfelt concerns for the horseshoe crab illustrate the human side of scientific inquiry."�KLIATT "Sargent...has crafted a surprisingly engaging tale ... Crab Wars makes for a helpful � and entertaining � case study." �nationaljournal.com "[M]akes for fascinating reading . . . Crab Wars offers a compact introduction to the horseshoe crab and the controversy it has recently engendered."�Journal of the History of Biology "[Makes for fascinating reading . . . Crab Wars offers a compact introduction to the horseshoe crab and the controversy it has recently engendered."--Journal of the History of Biology