Botox! Yikes, isn’t that a very deadly poison? The answer is no. That would be Botulism, a serious and life-threatening illness. But they come from the same source: Botulinum toxin.
Botulinum toxin is a protein and neuro-toxin produced by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. It can cause botulism, a deadly disease. Another form of it, with the popular trade name Botox, is what is used today for cosmetic purposes.
Justinus Kerner, a 19th century German poet and medical writer called Clostridium botulinum the “sausage bacteria” because it was found on improperly handled or prepared meat and sausage. It was in 1895 that Emile P. Van Ermengem isolated the microbe and discovered that it produced a toxin from a piece of ham that had poisoned 34 people...