Botulinum Toxins

Botulinum toxin is an injectable muscle relaxant, commonly known by one of its trademarked brand names, BOTOX®.

Botulinum toxin is responsible for causing botulism, the paralysing and potentially fatal foodborne illness. The name botulinum is derived from the Latin word botulus (sausage) because the illness was once believed to originate from sausages. We now know that the botulinum toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria.