helping horseshoes

When the message came in from One Hundred Miles to help out these marine creatures with the prehistoric flair, I jumped at the chance!

Maybe you will, too?

Just go to this link by January 31 and fill in the information... many thanks!

 

Here is the letter I sent.

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Dear Leslie Furr [of the United States Pharmacopeia],
I want to express my strong support for the adoption of Chapter 86, the proposal that would grant competitive status to endotoxin tests that use synthetic horseshoe crab reagents.

Horseshoe crabs have a vital purpose in providing a renewal food source for other coastal species.

More than 360,000 migrating shorebirds use Georgia’s coast as an essential stopover site as they migrate thousands of miles to and from their nesting grounds in the Arctic and wintering grounds in South America. Some threatened species, like the Red Knot and Whimbrel, fly thousands of miles before stopping. When they do, horseshoe crab eggs provide an essential food source that fuels the birds’ migration and mating.

I applaud the work of the Microbiology Expert Committee in developing this new proposal. It will provide a reliable and sustainable source for endotoxin testing material that does not use the blood of a wild animal. Further, based on real-world evidence with medicines already on the market, the recombinant agents have been shown to be as good as, or better, than traditional testing using limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL).

Finally, we would encourage the United States Pharmacopeia to expedite the process of adopting the new chapter to facilitate earlier adoption by companies that want to convert to recombinant reagents prior to November 2024.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,
Faustina Smith