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Frederik B. Bang: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Frederik B. Bang, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• A living fossil's blue blood is used to test the safety of every vaccine you've had

  Horseshoe crab blood is blue because it carries oxygen with copper-based hemocyanin instead of iron-based hemoglobin. Its blood cells also clot instantly around bacterial toxins, a…

  — Frederik B. Bang, A Bacterial Disease of Limulus polyphemus

• Nearly every vaccine on Earth is tested using a crab's baby-blue blood

  Horseshoe crab blood runs blue because it carries copper-based hemocyanin instead of iron-based hemoglobin, and it clots almost instantly on contact with bacterial toxins. That rea…

  — Frederik B. Bang & Jack Levin, Limulus amebocyte lysate

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