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TOXIN

The Cunning of Bacterial Poisons

ALISTAIR J. LAX

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford

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First published 2005

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Lax, Alistair J., 1953–

Toxin : the story of bacterial poisons / Alistair J. Lax

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN–13: 978–0–19–860558–4 (alk. paper)

ISBN–10: 0–19–860558–7 (alk. paper)

1. Bacterial toxins—Popular works. I. Title

[DNLM: 1. Bacterial toxins—history. 2. Bacterial toxins

—poisoning. QW 11.1 L425t 2005]

QP632.B3L39 2005

615.9

5293—dc22

2005019702

Typeset by Footnote Graphics Limited

Printed in Great Britain

on acid-free paper by

Clays Ltd., St. Ives plc

ISBN 0–19–860558–7 978–0–19–860558–4

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Preface

I became interested in bacterial toxins around 15 years ago, and was

immediately and increasingly fascinated as I learnt more about how

these ingenious bacterial poisons take over control of our cells.

Although toxins are made in bacteria, they are designed speciﬁcally to

work inside our cells. There each toxin can identify with precision a

key function that makes the cell work, and moreover interfere with its

normal function. Toxins therefore possess an intimate knowledge of

our cells, and this is the reason why bacteria are such lethal molecules

and cause disease. Toxins remain a signiﬁcant cause of disease today,

not just in the developing world, where they are a major cause of

death, but also in the west. New toxin-linked diseases are still appear-

ing and we are still ﬁnding new ways that these poisons interact with

us.

The story of toxins and of the scientists who worked on them is one

of genius, endeavour, and personal squabbles. It is also entwined with

the birth of modern biology in the last two centuries. Inspirational

and eccentric characters fashioned the new science of microbiology

by the late nineteenth century and this in turn led to other new sci-

ences, such as immunology and virology.

The potent action of bacterial toxins can be harnessed for good or

evil. Not surprisingly they have been used as weapons by unscrupu-

lous regimes and terrorist groups. We can also use information about

their poisonous nature to ﬁght bacterial disease by making vaccines,

and we can even turn the toxic activity to beneﬁcial use in novel ways

to try to ﬁght cancer. In addition, as toxins interact so precisely with

our cells, they can be used to help us to understand cell function in

health and disease. What wonderfully interesting molecules they are!

Alistair Lax

April 2005

Acknowledgements

It has been said that copying from one source is plagiarism, whereas

copying from more than one is research. On that basis I hope that this

book will be regarded as a work of research. In some sections of this

book I have had the opportunity to look up several sources including

original published papers. In other places I have relied heavily on

solitary or limited resources, whereas the source of information on

other aspects of toxins comes from attendance at conferences and

individual contacts. I have tried to acknowledge the written sources

in a section at the end of this book, and mention various direct con-

tacts here. I am aware that neither list is entirely comprehensive and I

apologise in advance for any especially glaring omissions. Of course

any errors of fact in the book are entirely my responsibility.

Many people provided information, or suggested where I could

ﬁnd it. I would particularly like to thank Bob Arnott, John Blair, Tim

Carter, Ralph Ferichs, John Forrester, Ian Reader, Katie Sambrook,

and Rick Titball.

I would like to thank the following people for generously providing

images that I could use: John Collier of Harvard University, Ignatius

Ding of the Alliance for Preserving the Truth of Sino-Japanese War,

Ute Hornbogen at the Robert Koch Museum, Robin Keeley of the

Forensic Science Service, and Tim Staten of Wolverhampton Archives

and Local Studies.

Several members of my family and several friends were kind enough

to read early drafts and give me their helpful and candid comments. I

would like to thank Alan Hester, Pauline Lax, Nick Lax, Isobel Lax,

and Hugh Smith.

Finally, I thank my wife Pauline, and Nick, Tom and Ollie for their

forbearance, support and love over the many years I took to write this

book.

Contents

Figures and Tables

viii

1. Toxins are everywhere: how toxins have affected history

2. The germ of an idea: a gradual acceleration up to the

mid-1850s

3. The golden age of microbiology: Pasteur, Koch, and the

birth of the toxin concept

4. The anatomy of diphtheria: taming the deadly scourge of

childhood

5. Understanding: all toxins ﬁt into three basic mechanisms

6. Why are plague and typhoid so deadly?: A further layer of

cunning

102

7. Deviant biology: weapons, espionage, and man’s innate

inhumanity

116

8. A more optimistic outcome: from poison to cure and the

cell biologist’s toolkit

140

9. Where is toxinology going now?: Is there anything new out

there?

157

Endnotes

168

Bibliography

180

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