As the only blue blooded creature on Earth, how did the horseshoe crab save people?

In science fiction or science fiction movies, we often see authors setting the blood color of a certain creature to blue with a specific effect. We can't help but wonder, is there really a creature with blue blood in real life? You must know that most of us have the impression that the blood of almost all living things on the planet is red.

In fact, there is such a creature, that is, horseshoe crabs, horseshoe crabs are the only known creatures on the earth that have blue blood, and the blood of horseshoe crabs also has a special effect, that is, its blood can save people.

I'm sure you must wonder how the blood of horseshoe crabs saves people. This has to start with the environment in which the horseshoe crab lives. Generally speaking, horseshoe crabs generally live in humid and multi-bacterial seashores, the unique environment makes horseshoe crabs create a special biological structure of their own, we all know that humans destroy bacteria through white blood cells in the blood, but horseshoe crabs do not have the same white blood cells as humans.

As a result, for a long time, in order to fight the bacteria in the living environment, horseshoe crabs have created a special blood mechanism.

Specifically, in the blue blood of horseshoe crabs, there is an enzyme that can isolate harmful bacteria. When the horseshoe crab feels the invasion of harmful bacteria, the invaded local blood of the horseshoe crab automatically coagulates into a gelatinous form, isolating the harmful bacteria and preventing them from spreading further. Humans have taken advantage of this property of horseshoe crab blood to make their blood into a reagent that can detect the presence of germs in the drug.

When this reagent comes into contact with the agent, even if there is 1/10,000 of the germs in the agent, the agent will be detected and quickly coagulate. It is precisely in this way that the blood of horseshoe crabs has greatly reduced the harm of bacterial infection and saved the lives of thousands of humans.

Unfortunately, the horseshoe crab's unique medicinal value also poses a certain threat to their survival. At present, about half a million horseshoe crabs in the world are captured by humans every year for blood, although after collecting 30% of the blood of each horseshoe crab, humans will release them back into the sea, but studies have shown that after the blood is released back into the sea, some of them will die directly, and those that do not die will be much less sensitive to the body's reaction and the success rate of reproduction. Fortunately, researchers have developed reagents that can replace their blood, but the promotion of this reagent needs to be further verified.

The blood of horseshoe crabs is very special, and their blood can test the toxicity of drugs, and it is the fastest test for toxicity.

The blue blood of horseshoe crabs contains blood clotting agents that react chemically with toxic substances to form gels, which in turn can help humans test the toxicity of drugs.

The blood of horseshoe crabs contains a coagulant that quickly forms a thick gel after a chemical reaction with a toxic substance, making it the best and fastest test for toxicity, which can be used to test the toxicity of medicines, foods and other items, and is also used to develop cancer.

The blood of horseshoe crabs can be made into reagents specifically for bacterial endotoxin testing. Just add LAL to the test material and see if the reagent changes to a solid state.

One mistake that must be corrected is that horseshoe crabs are not the only blue-blooded creatures on Earth, and although they are rare, they are not the only blue-blooded creatures.

Be.

It is the only creature in the world that has blue blood, and even its cell structure is different from most organisms. There are four types of horseshoe crabs, namely the Chinese horseshoe crab, the American horseshoe crab, the southern horseshoe crab, and the round-tailed horseshoe crab, and the main difference between these four types of horseshoe crab is only the difference in color and tail.

Because the age of survival is too far away, the horseshoe crab is a creature that maintains its own form for the longest time in the evolution of life, so the scientific community calls it a living fossil, but this living fossil that has survived for 400 million years is difficult to survive in modern society, and has become an endangered animal.

Of course, the Chinese horseshoe crab is distributed in the coastal areas of China, and there has always been a tradition of eating horseshoe crabs in southern Fujian, except for the round-tailed horseshoe crab that contains the poison of the pufferfish, the meat, gonads and eggs of other horseshoe crabs can be eaten, because its structure is similar to that of crabs, so it is also called horseshoe crabs. But eating horseshoe crab is a troublesome thing because its blue blood contains a lot of copper ions, which can cause poisoning if eaten in large quantities.

Yes. The horseshoe crab has copper ions in its blood, and its blood is blue. Cephalopods are also called blue-blooded animals because they have a unique circulatory system, and the vanadium contained in their blood appears to be blue.

Another characteristic of cephalopods is their unique circulatory system: 3 hearts that supply blue blood. They actually have only 1 true heart, which consists of 2 atria and 1 ventricle that receive oxygenated blood from the gills and supply the whole body.

The other 2 gill hearts receive venous blood from the periphery and transport it to the gills, where the carbon dioxide produced by the body is replaced by oxygen. The oxygenated blood that passes through the heart is dark blue, which is actually the color of vanadium contained in the blood.

Because the blood of this animal has excellent research value and can be made into medicine, it is used in large quantities, and the number is getting smaller and smaller, and it has become a protected animal.

Because there are very few horseshoe crabs in our country now. This marine creature is on the verge of extinction, which is why it has become a protected animal.

People are very fond of eating this animal, and they are about to become extinct when they eat this animal, so it has become a protected animal.

Because the taste of this thing is relatively good, the nutritional value is relatively high, so people prefer to eat this animal.

Blood is a natural reagent for testing toxicity, and it has a lot of value behind it. The horseshoe crab not only has 3 hearts, but also belongs to an ancient blue-blooded creature, it is very different from almost all creatures in nature now, its survival history can be traced back to the age of dinosaurs, and is called the "living fossil" on the earth by professionals.

The horseshoe crab is distinctly different from what it normally thinks of as a creature, as it is covered in a hard carapace, from the top of which two small eyes and two compound eyes peek. Taken as a whole, it looks like a flat stone. It is only when you see that it has a long tail that you realize that it is a living thing.

From a professional point of view, horseshoe crabs are very similar to the crustaceans commonly found in nature.

The current horseshoe crab was born 400 million years ago, and in the process of evolution, it did not change greatly in appearance and appearance like other creatures, but still retained the appearance and carapace structure of the past, and the guest ** is like a giant insect. Although the environment in which it grows has changed dramatically, it is still the same as it was 400 million years ago. 400 million years ago, it lived in a warm ocean, and its life was very monotonous, and it only instinctively moved its body a little when it hunted.

In addition to its strong research value, horseshoe crabs also have great medicinal value. The blue blood of horseshoe crabs contains substances that can clot blood, and because the substance is extremely sensitive to toxicity, it will immediately coagulate itself in the blood vessels as soon as it feels toxic, thereby slowing down the effects of the toxin on organs throughout the body. Probably exactly that,The blood of horseshoe crabs has become a natural reagent for testing toxicity, which can not only effectively measure the quality of drugs, but also effectively prevent bacterial infection.

However, it may be that the horseshoe crab has great medical value behind it, which makes the survival of the horseshoe crab very worrying. Horseshoe crabs in the wild are being hunted by humans in an uncontrollable manner. Including some specially set up research laboratories, horseshoe crabs will be tied up and constantly draw blood for research, which can easily lead to a great reduction in the quality of life of horseshoe crabs, and even make many horseshoe crabs can only spend their short lives in the laboratory.

There are two reasons why horseshoe crabs can be the subject of attentionThe first reason is that it has three hearts; The second reason is that it has natural blue blood. Of these two reasons, either one can refresh people's understanding of living things in nature. The reason why the horseshoe crab can become the only natural blue-blooded creature in nature is because it produces an alternation between carbon dioxide and oxygen during the three-step process of its blood, which in turn causes the blood to change its color to blue.

The horseshoe crab has three hearts, and the reason for this is to increase its own blood flow and meet its need to flow blood throughout the body at a faster rate. In addition, more carbon dioxide and oxygen can be produced from the gills to be replaced, and only then can the three hearts naturally grow to maintain the basic survival.

The value of the horseshoe crab is its blue blood, and it is precisely because it can be used to make horseshoe crab reagents that it is used by humans in large quantities.

It has great medicinal value, and it is also valuable for the study of biological history.

The value behind it is very high, and the whole body is a treasure, which can be used not only as medicine, but also as an ornamental animal.