Now, finally, the crabs are catching a break

A key group that sets standards for drugmakers has officially OK'd a human-made alternative

But so far, only a handful of drugmakers have begun to adopt it

But bird lovers say modern medicine’s dependence on this bloodletting is upending a globe-spanning ecosystem

Birds bulk up on fatty crab eggs on the East Coast before migrating north

This is a horseshoe crab

For decades, we've relied on an extraordinary chemical in its blood to protect medical equipment from contamination, saving untold lives

For more than a decade, scientists didn't know what was causing billions of sea stars to melt away from Alaska to Mexico

Now, they say they've finally found the culprit: a bacterial cousin of the pathogen behind cholera (2/3)

It starts with a twist. One arm pretzels in on itself. Then another... and another...

Before long, the arms detach and crawl away zombielike

By the end, the starfish is nothing more than a puddle of goo (1/3)