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Clostridium Botulinum Strain Essay

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A new strain of Clostridium botulinum has been discovered that has caused many problems. To begin, this discovery is important as this strain of Clostridium botulinum is responsible for the deadly illness, botulism. As a result, the scientists that discovered this new strain, they decided to keep their findings to themselves and not to to the public. Not to mention that another reason why this new strain of Clostridium botulinum is important is because it is one of the first to be identified in 40 years. Ultimately, the finding of the new strain of Clostridium botulinum is important as it could affect the future effectively. Clostridium botulinum is a type of bacterium that is one of the main reasons for causing the deadly illness botulism. To …show more content…

These scientists utilized the scientific methods of relevant medical and biological safety procedures to protect themselves and the world from this new strain. This new type of Clostridium botulinum was the first to be discovered in 40 years; that is four decades of trying to find a type of this bacterium. In the article,”A Botulism Bind,” by Helen Branswell, the author states,” The new strain of C. botulinum was the first to be identified in 40 years, and perhaps more extraordinary; the researchers purposely withheld key details of their discovery”(Branswell,1). Another reason why this discovery is important is because of the chaos it can cause if it gets out into the world. For the purpose of the world’s safety, the scientists decided to keep key parts of this discovery a secret. First, this strain of Clostridium botulinum can cause bioterror and a single gram can be responsible for a million people’s death; inhaled, contact, anything. If a country or a person gets a hold of this, they have a deadly weapon that can kill millions of people within minutes. The author states,” A single gram of crystalline toxin,”evenly dispersed and inhaled, would kill more than

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