Advances in assays and analytical approaches for botulinum-toxin detection

We review methods to detect botulinum toxin, the most poisonous substance known. Current assays are being developed with two main objectives in mind:(1)to obtain sufficiently low limits of detection to replace the mouse bioassay with an in vitro assay; and,(2)to develop for screening purposes rapid assays that are as sensitive as possible while requiring an hour or less to process the sample and to obtain the result.We emphasize the diverse analytical approaches and devices that have been developed over the past decade. Also, to provide background and context, we briefly review representative older immunoassays.