Like some of the chemical weapons, biological weapons may also be useful as area denial weapons. These agents may be lethal or non-lethal, and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people, or even an entire population.
Acetylcholine is a chemical messenger, a neurotransmitter, released by nerve cells in many parts of the peripheral nervous system. It controls the contraction of all skeletal or voluntary muscles, for instance. It also affects the contraction of smooth and cardiac muscle.
The presence of an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase that degrades acetylcholine is what prevents an accumulation of the neurotransmitter and sustained muscle contraction.Acetylcholinesterase is an enzyme that can be found within the neuromuscular junction.Thus, when a nerve impulse causes the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, there is a critical time in which the neurotransmitter can bind to receptors on the muscle before it is degraded.hus, when a nerve impulse causes the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, there is a critical time in which the neurotransmitter can bind to receptors on the muscle before it is degraded.