Podcasts Culture Radiolab Baby Blue Blood Drive

Baby Blue Blood Drive

Published: July 8, 2022, 2 p.m.

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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\\u2019s-mitt shell, they harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs, survive all the Earth\\u2019s mass extinctions, and was essential in the development of the COVID vaccines. \\xa0And what is that secret superpower? Their blood. Their baby blue blood.\\xa0\\xa0And it\\u2019s so miraculous that for decades, it hasn\\u2019t just been saving their butts, it\\u2019s been saving ours too.

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But that all might be about to change.\\xa0\\xa0

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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\\xa0how much we depend on nature and how much it depends on us.

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And, by the way, Radiolab is looking for a remote intern!\\xa0If you happen to be a creative, science-obsessed nerd who is interested in learning how to make longform radio\\u2026 Apply! We would LOVE to work with you.\\xa0 You can find more info at\\xa0wnyc.org/careers.

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Citations:

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Alexis Madrigal,\\xa0"The Blood Harvest"\\xa0in\\xa0The Atlantic, and Sarah Zhang\'s recent follow up in\\xa0The Atlantic,\\xa0"The Last Days of the Blue Blood Harvest"\\xa0

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Deborah Cramer,\\xa0The Narrow Edge

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Deborah Cramer,\\xa0"Inside the Biomedical Revolution to Save Horseshoe Crabs"\\xa0in Audubon Magazine\\xa0

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Richard Fortey,\\xa0Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms

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Ian Frazier,\\xa0"Blue Bloods"\\xa0\\xa0in The New Yorker\\xa0

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Lulu Miller\'s short story,\\xa0"Me and Jane"\\xa0\\xa0in Catapult Magazine

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Jerry Gault,\\xa0"The Most Noble Fishing There Is"\\xa0\\xa0in Charles River\'s Eureka Magazine

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or check out Glenn Gauvry\'s horseshoe crab\\xa0research database

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