Baby Blue Blood Drive

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

History, Science, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Society & Culture

4.6 • 44.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is an episode that first aired in 2018 and then again in the thick of the pandemic in 2020. Why? Because though Horseshoe crabs are not much to look at, beneath their unassuming catcher’s-mitt shell, they harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs, survive all the Earth’s mass extinctions, and was essential in the development of the COVID vaccines. And what is that secret superpower? Their blood. Their baby blue blood. And it’s so miraculous that for decades, it hasn’t just been saving their butts, it’s been saving ours too. But that all might be about to change. Follow us as we follow these ancient critters - from a raunchy beach orgy to a marine blood drive to the most secluded waterslide - and learn a thing or two from them about how much we depend on nature and how much it depends on us. Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about special events. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org. And, by the way, Radiolab is looking for a remote intern! If you happen to be a creative, science-obsessed nerd who is interested in learning how to make longform radio… Apply! We would LOVE to work with you. You can find more info at wnyc.org/careers. Citations: Alexis Madrigal, "The Blood Harvest" in The Atlantic, and Sarah Zhang's recent follow up in The Atlantic, "The Last Days of the Blue Blood Harvest" Deborah Cramer, The Narrow Edge Deborah Cramer, "Inside the Biomedical Revolution to Save Horseshoe Crabs" in Audubon Magazine Richard Fortey, Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms Ian Frazier, "Blue Bloods" in The New Yorker Lulu Miller's short story, "Me and Jane" in Catapult Magazine Jerry Gault, "The Most Noble Fishing There Is" in Charles River's Eureka Magazine or check out Glenn Gauvry's horseshoe crab research database

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wait, you're listening.
0:01.1	Okay.
0:02.4	All right.
0:03.6	Okay.
0:05.0	All right.
0:06.4	You're listening to Radio Lab.
0:09.4	Radio Lab.
0:09.8	From W. N. Y.
0:11.9	C.
0:12.8	See?
0:13.1	Yeah.
0:17.2	Hello, I'm Lulu. This is Radio Lab.
0:19.7	If I could give a time person of the year award to somebody,
0:24.9	it would be the COVID-19 vaccine. And I know the vaccine isn't a person, but when I'm deciding
0:30.0	the person of the year, it can be a vaccine. And I would award it and I would put it on the cover
0:34.1	of all the mess in the world. I think it is pretty clear that the vaccine has done
0:39.2	unthinkable good. And by now you probably know a little bit about the story of how it was developed,
0:45.4	but what you might not know is the role that an ordinary crustacean, the American horseshoe crab,
0:52.5	played in its development, and also in modern medicine as a whole.
0:56.7	So today, we are going to bring you a story that we first aired four years ago and then updated in the summer of 2020.
1:03.6	It's about the unexpected influence horseshoe crabs have on science and society, as well as what their future looks like. It is also the first story that Latoff and I ever reported together. And it's beachy. We head to the beach, so we hope you enjoy. Here it is. Hey, I'm Chad, I'm Rod. I'm Robert Kulwitch. You know, Whitney Beach or? No, no, you're going to pickering beach. Yeah. You're down 13.
1:28.1	You're going to see the store on the right hand.
	...

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