The botulism toxin can do this because it’s an enzyme – it cleaves a critical neurotransmitter protein in half, then resets to do it again.
And again
And again
A single molecule can keep dicing up protein and disabling a neuron for hours before it finally degrades.
In that time, you’ve been unable to breathe because the signal pathway is all locked up.
Compare that to a poison molecule like carbon monoxide that disables a single protein and is then permanently expended.
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