The Discovery of Botox
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 22 August 2017
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How an ophthalmologist and a dermatologist in Vancouver, Canada, discovered that small amounts of a deadly toxin could make frown lines disappear. Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Drs Jean and Alastair Carruthers about their breakthrough.
Photo: Doctor injecting a woman's face with botulinum toxin. Copyright: Pascal Goetgheluck/Science Photo Library.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:38.4 | Choosing what to watch. |
| 0:39.4 | Night after night. |
| 0:41.1 | The flicking through. The endless searching is a nightmare. We want to help you. On our |
| 0:46.7 | brand new podcast off the telly we share what we've been watching. |
| 0:50.3 | Cladie aider. Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming, lovely. |
| 0:55.0 | Off the telly with me Joanna Paige and me, Natalie Cassidy, |
| 0:59.0 | so your evenings can be a little less searching |
| 1:02.0 | and a lot more watching listen on BBC |
| 1:04.7 | sounds you're listening to the witness podcast history as told by the people who |
| 1:10.5 | were there and since it first came on the market in 2002, Botox has become |
| 1:17.0 | the most popular cosmetic treatment in the world today. In 2012, Chloe Hadjimuthieu spoke to the husband and wife team, Alister and Gene Carothers, who first |
| 1:28.0 | discovered that injecting a toxin under the skin could help get rid of wrinkles. |
| 1:34.0 | It's 2002 and a controversial new treatment for reducing wrinkles has just come onto the market. |
| 1:41.0 | From warfare to wrinkles a new role for botulism. |
| 1:45.4 | It's a deadly toxin once used in biological warfare, |
... |
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