SCIENCE WORLD : HOMEWARD BOUND

PG 8

Horseshoe crabs are the oldest known species of crab

• TRUE

• FALSE

PG 8

Horseshoe crabs are covered by a carapace, or a hard outer shell.

• TRUE

• FALSE

PG 8

If LAL (limulus amebocyte lysate) turns into a gel when exposed to a sample, it means the sample is contaminated with gramnegative bacteria.

• TRUE

• FALSE

PG 8

The new lab-made alternative to LAL (the clotting agent from horseshoe crab blood) has not yet been used to test medications

• TRUE

• FALSE

PG 8

The biomedical industry’s demand for horseshoe crab blood is the only threat to these creatures

• TRUE

• FALSE

. Word: jeopardize (page 9, paragraph 3)

Sentence: The animals face other threats too, like habitat loss and pollution, that further jeopardize their numbers.

meaning for jeopardize

• endanger

• increase

• strengthen

• stabilize

Word: vital (page 9, paragraph 3)

Sentence: To keep both horseshoe crab populations and people healthy, scientists are turning to an alternative to replace the animals’ blood that’s so vital to the biomedical industry.

vital meaning?

• useless

• dangerous

• imporant

• new

Word: devised (page 10, paragraph 2)

Sentence: Then they devised ways to use the substance to identify bacterial contamination in medical products.

define devised

• developed

• rejected

• paid for

• added

Word: disruptive (page 11, paragraph

1) Sentence: The disruptive practice of harvesting horseshoe crabs for their blood has motivated scientists to develop a synthetic, or lab-made, alternative to LAL.

• helpful

• damaging

• neutral

• respectable

gold standard (page 11, paragraph 2)

Sentence: It’s backed by decades of research and still considered the gold standard for detecting bacteria that could seriously harm people.

meaning for gold standard

• . high-tech method

• worst solution

• best way

• old fashioned method