A new strategy to fight the world’s most potent poison has passed its first tests in animals. Two research teams have developed neutered forms of botulinum toxin that chase their deadly counterpart into nerves and disarm it. The treatment, if it works in people, would be the first to reverse the paralyzing effects of the toxin inside cells and might spare patients long periods on a ventilator. “In a life-threatening situation, this will be very, very helpful,” says Brenda Anne Wilson, a toxin microbiologist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

 

 

Credit: CDC

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