Botulinum toxin or botox is injected by cosmetic surgeons to paralyse muscles and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. But the procedure can be painful and even cause tissue damage leading to problems such as drooping eyelids. Now Robert Nicolosi and Jonathon Edelson at the University of Massachussetts Lowell Nanomanufacturing Center have developed a skin cream that can do the same trick. It had been thought that botox could not pass through the skin. But the researchers have discovered that the toxin passes through with ease if it is attached to a nanoparticle in an emulsion. The nanoemulsion also keeps the toxin stable, they claim, giving the cream a possible shelf life of up to two years. Read the full botox face cream patent application. Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant ...
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