Jack Levin demonstrates the removal of blood from a Limulus. This procedure does not permanently harm the animal. The blood is a mixture of liquid serum and suspended amoebocytes. If these conditions are met, the blood can be centrifuged and the result is a separation of blood cells from the serum. A small whitish pellet forms at the bottom of the tube.
Technicians pour off the serum annd rinse the pellet with saline.
It is then resuspended and added to the collection of amoebocytes. Eventually pyrogen-free, distilled water is mixed with the suspesion of blood cells. This releases the coagulogen into solution. The resultant solution is filtered to remove cellular debris and then freeze-dried to form a white powder of the lysate. This lysate is then packaged and sold to be reconstituted as the assay described above.