Why Costa Rica uses horseshoe crab blood in medicine
Costa Rica uses the blue blood of horseshoe crabs to test injectable drugs for contaminants. Dr. Mario André Oreamuno Ávila, in charge of the Bioanalysis Unit of the Costa Rica’s Laboratory of Standards and Quality of Medicines (LNCM), explained his lab analyzes 400 batches of injectable drugs each year using this method. Horseshoe crab blood reacts to the presence of bacteria and fungi by visibly coagulating. Analysis of this coagulation allows Oreamuno’s staff to verify the quality and the safety of drugs created or imported into Costa Rica. As the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmosphe...
Source: ticotimes.net