When: Thursday, February 18 at 7:00 pm

Where: This program is online via Zoom

Cost: FREE | Register Now

“The Horseshoe Crab and Human Health” will be the topic of the Marine Discovery Center’s February Monthly Lecture Series.

The free webinar will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Allen Burgenson, Global Subject Matter Expert for Endotoxin Detection at Lonza Walkersville, Inc., in Maryland, and chair of the horseshoe crab advisory panel of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, will be the guest presenter.

Burgenson has nearly 40 years of experience in the biomedical use of horseshoe crabs. In his presentation, he will discuss how the blood of horseshoe crabs is essential in medicine for endotoxin testing and was valuable in creating the COVID vaccine.

Listeners will learn what an endotoxin is, how it is detected and what medical products are tested. He will also discuss how COVID-19 and its vaccine affect demand for LAL (Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, the product derived from horseshoe crab blood), as well as the current status of the horseshoe crab population and the future of endotoxin detection.

Interested guests for the February lecture may register for the Zoom presentation online. The program is free, but participants must set up a personal Zoom account to access the webinar. MDC will continue to offer programs online during COVID-19 precautions.

For more information about the lecture, contact the Marine Discovery Center at 386-428-4828.