Scientists discover new type of deadly botox, won’t release DNA sequence

Researchers from the California Department of Health found an eighth type of botulinum toxin, called toxin H. The deadly substance causes botulism and paralysis. Its DNA sequence is being withheld until an antidote is discovered.

Scientists are keeping quiet about a new type of botox, which could kill adults in microscopic doses. Scientists claim they’ve discovered the deadliest substance on Earth in a scary new type of Botox.

It would take a microscopic injection of just 2 billionths of a gram — or inhaling 13 billionths of a gram — of the new Botox to kill an adult. Victims would contract botulism and eventually die of paralysis.

Scientists discover new type of deadly botox, won’t release DNA sequence

In this era of chemical weapons development (and so called disarmament!), comes this news of a strain of Botox - H, the 8th type of Botox, of which only a microscopic quantity 'IS' lethal to humans. The US department of health are looking for an antidote, and withholding the DNA sequencing for now!

Such a chemical's DNA should never be released at all, IMHO...! Why would they release the DNA sequencing once the antidote is found? What use could Botox H be of, besides killing people?

What do you think ATS?

Sounds very scary. But I bet someone wants to inject some into their face.

Nice..how long before someone does get the info out and its weaponized.

B eing very ignorant about the 'mechanics' of chemical warfare could someone explain if possible to me this - did we invent this horrible strain or is it something that has laid dormant within the earth or some other body and just suddenly appeared, has it come from a meteor or foreign body from the sky? You get the drift of my query I hope.

I am always flummoxed about this kind of thing because we use minute amounts of poisonous material as a cure or some means of containment for some diseases etc so the lines of a chemical as a means of weapon for me is a blurred line theoretically.

The perfect weapon against L.A And Miami!

reply to post by RammerJammer


My thoughts exactly.. Scary.. But someone, somewhere (where there is more money than brains) will think about this and ask her plasticsurgeon or (even more fun) the owner of her local beauty-shop.


"yeeeees, that will clean out your wrinkles once and for all!!!"...

Botox from France or Norway.

Bacteria to botulism to botox.....

Bigburgh
Botox from France or Norway.

Bacteria to botulism to botox.....

Sorry little coffee. 6:30am...

This off the top of my head.

But weaponizing it....comes to mind.

UnknownEntity
Such a chemical's DNA should never be released at all, IMHO...! Why would they release the DNA sequencing once the antidote is found? What use could Botox H be of, besides killing people?

I imagine in some ways its a bit like counter forensics and hacking.

The issue is, if it gets squirreled away no one can do any research on it. In recent decades the forensics field has opened up somewhat because we've realized that our research is useless if it can't be implemented and shared.

To some degree I can see this applying to this type of material also. It's the catch-22, the more secretive they are about it the less likely they are to discover an antidote or anything else useful about it. Perhaps one day the world will get less paranoid and we can stop having these problems.

reply to post by Shiloh7


If you would have another read of the article, you will find that the people who authored this research, found the toxin in the faeces of a child who had botulism. Therefore I would imagine that unless the child was a victim of a war crime of some sort, that the microscopic crud responsible is a naturally occurring strain, formed when the original toxin has been present in, and affected by its passage through the human body, although that is a supposition on my part.

Botulism is not caused by a bacteria in the strictest sense, but by the toxins that it gives off as a by product of its respiratory process. This is why botulism is said to be caused by a toxin, rather than a biological organism. This definition makes a clear line between botulism and something more like Anthrax, which is an infectious disease, directly caused by an organism.

Shiloh7
B eing very ignorant about the 'mechanics' of chemical warfare could someone explain if possible to me this - did we invent this horrible strain or is it something that has laid dormant within the earth or some other body and just suddenly appeared, has it come from a meteor or foreign body from the sky? You get the drift of my query I hope.

Yep - was it invented or found?

It was found:

Lead study author Stephen Arnon and colleagues discovered the new substance — the 8th known botulinum toxin, called toxin H — in the feces of a child who had botulism.

I am always flummoxed about this kind of thing because we use minute amounts of poisonous material as a cure or some means of containment for some diseases etc so the lines of a chemical as a means of weapon for me is a blurred line theoretically.

Yeah there is an old saying that the dose makes the poison - drink too much water and it can change the concentration of electrolytes in your body and can kill you! Too much oxygen is lethal - as is too little, iron is actually more toxic than fluoride, etc.

Aloysius the Gaul
It was found:

Lead study author Stephen Arnon and colleagues discovered the new substance — the 8th known botulinum toxin, called toxin H — in the feces of a child who had botulism.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...don't eat feces. (Might not be a bad idea to stop your dog from doing it too).

I'm not sure if it was passing through the body that made the virulent type, or an unusual mutation that happened in an isolated case, or maybe all botox has a variety of strains mixed together?

If it's not an unusual mutation, who knows, there could be one or two of these in every botox injection but that may be too small an amount to be lethal? I've never liked the idea of botox injections, and now I like the idea even less.

reply to post by UnknownEntity

Such a chemical's DNA should never be released at all, IMHO...! Why would they release the DNA sequencing once the antidote is found? What use could Botox H be of, besides killing people?

Plenty of things, many deadly bacteria or viruses can be stripped of things and then used for something that helps.

Not saying indeed this would happen with Botox H, but the pragmatism of holding back the DNA sequence for now sounds like a good judgement.

Hand up wif you want to inject this into soms celeb faces? Mwhahaha

reply to post by UnknownEntity


Does anyone remember the movie "Satan-Bug" from the late sixties.

www.youtube.com...

It was based upon a "weaponized" strain of botulism.
De-ja-vu, all over again.

Thanks to True Brit and Alloysius the Gaul for your explanations of this horrible new find, it beggars belief in what else is waiting to raise its ugly little head.

We live on a beautiful planet but, not all seems cool in the garden for mankind.

Not releasing the genetic data on this is a smart move. Botulinum toxin is the single most lethal (to humans) compound known to date. Making the DNA of an organism as dangerous as this one would make it much easier to synthesize, not necessarily for good. The same debate came up when researchers isolated and sequenced the genome of the 1918 Spanish Flu.