Question

What is botulinum toxin?

Answer 1

Botulinum toxin is the most powerful neurotoxin known to date. Only one single molecule of it is needed to stop one neuron working.

Just 1 gram of botulinum toxin would be enough to kill 14,000 people (if ingested), 1.25 million people if inhaled, or a staggering 8.3 million people if injected.

Emile van Ermengem discovered that the bacteria C. botulinum was the producer of BTX (Botox).

Structure of the toxin.

This toxin can cause an illness which begins by causing the paralysis of the face muscles and then the paralysis of most of the body.
When the muscles which control breathing become paralyzed, this results in respiratory arrest and death.

The bacteria can be killed and the toxin destroyed with high pressures or high temperatures.

Botox also has cosmetic uses and is mainly used to paralyze the muscles that cause wrinkles, so the wrinkles disappear.
It is also used to treat many other conditions, such as migraine.

There is an even worse potential use for the toxin: terrorism.