Companions at a Distance: Technoscience, Blood, and the Horseshoe Crab

Abstract

In this paper we present a particular history of Limulus polyphemus, the horseshoe crab, as a means of expanding on Haraway’s notion of companion species. Drawing on accounts of the horseshoe crab’s role, on the one hand, in work of the Serological Museum at Rutgers University that spanned the 1940s to the 1970s, and, on the other, in the development of the limulus amebocyte lysate test, we trace some of the complexities of human-limulus relations. These relations encompassed not only the horseshoe crab’s objectification (as a source of serum), but also the natural historical, the mythical, and the symbolic (in relation to its blue blood or its supposed status as a “living fossil”). We suggest that the horseshoe crab, and similarly alien or abjected species, can be valued as companion species if this concept is expanded beyond parameters such as intimacy, surprise, and “becoming-with” to include distanciation, wonder, and “becoming-because-of.”

2 Outside of regulations, outside of imaginations

“…This subtle division -between the animal source and the animal-derived product -creates a level of 'distanciation', encouraging focus not on the animal, but rather on the substances it yields. 58 The disconnect prompts questions as to who should be doing the work of the 3Rs here -the companies who bleed horseshoe crabs or the end-users who utilise the product?…”

Pelatihan Pemberdayaan Istri Nelayan Melalui Pelatihan Digital Marketing Strategy (DMS) Darah Biru

“…Salah satu manfaat LAL yaitu sebagai detector alat medis sehingga bebas dari kandungan bakteri dan jamur [6]. Manfaat lain dari LAL ini yaitu sebagai bahan baku pembuatan vaksin [7]. Kepiting Tapal Kuda dapat dilihat pada Gambar berikut:…”

Regulating Horseshoe Crabs: Sustainability and Public Health

“…Science writers (Cramer 2015) and social scientists (Ghubril 2019;Gisler 2009;Gisler and Michael 2011;Gorman 2020b;Moore 2018;Odell et al 2005) have examined horseshoe crab fisheries, the ecological connections between horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, and the long-running (and at times controversial) policy deliberations over managing these creatures. Gorman (2020a) in particular has written a prior "white paper" on horseshoe crabs and the pharmaceutical industry that we have found especially relevant to our study, focusing on animal welfare concerns that might inform current debates.…”